Chapter 12

Arafoo Kenja no Isekai Seikatsu Nikki Chapter 12

Ossan, harvests a Mandrake

*DISCLAIMER: I DON’T REALLY KNOW JAPANESE, THESE ARE MACHINE TRANSLATIONS THAT I TRY TO PUT INTO PROPER ENGLISH. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

*As promised here are the 2 chapters missing. There were some parts in where I basically copy&pasted the manga translation, so big thanks to Sheriff Scans for translating it so I didn’t have to, although there were indeed some parts of the WN that were different from the manga. We’ll see if it matters as I continue to translate future chapters.

*Also, a reminder that this would actually be chapter 11 if you don’t count the prologue, so there aren’t any chapters missing.

*I’ll try to post chapter 20 during this weekend, although I might finish it earlier.

After deciding to have Celestina undergo combat training, the content of the practical lessons gradually made her more frustrated.

Occasionally, there were Mud Golems that were more quick-witted than the rest, although their bodies were more slender, and thus, more fragile-looking, but to compensate for that, they were incredibly more nimbler than its peers. It carried such agility that they didn’t seem to be made of mud, and they attacked in between the normal Mud Golems’ pattern of attacks.

It was quite the devious fellow, but since you don’t know what might happen in a real battle, this kind of training was very important.

In the first place, not only goblins and slimes inhabit the vast Far-flung forest, there were many different types of raptor-like monsters, as well as large carnivores and plant monsters.

It’s even more important to be able to make quick decisions and self-diagnosis, judging one’s ability, being able to retrace one’s steps as the battle progresses, as well as the knowledge to see through traps when you’re out in the wild.

For that reason, Celestina and Zweit were tasked with sparring with Golems to experience how was it like to fight real monsters.

This knowledge gets carved in your flesh and blood when it’s revised and verified by oneself, instead of when it’s taught by others.

Of course, they still have magic control practice aside from this.

“This…!! Training…!!”

Zweit slashed at the slender Mud Golem with his longsword, splitting it vertically in half. Celestina, on the other hand, was cautiously defending with her shield in a sideways position, repeatedly retreating and attacking, a technique that lets her be in the position of giving a solid blow when needed.

“Nii-sama, you’re too far ahead! We’ll get surrounded!”

“I know, I know! But these guys are so annoying!”

Zeros and Creston, who were watching from a distance, calmly observe how they fight and proceed to note down their evaluation of them on a board.

“Well, Zweit looks like he’s pretty straightforward. A power type that pushes through by brute force.”

“Tina is a technique type. Taking into account her own small physique and lack of muscle strength, she repeatedly gets a hit in before retreating.”

“They should have good chemistry with each other but…”

“Zweit has the tendency to act based on his emotions, it’ll be harder for them on the latter half of the training when they can’t use magic to land a decisive blow on the Golems.”

“Lack of experience will make you do that. Right now, he should be focused on practicing the sword.”

“Tina, on the other hand, is pretty solid but she’s having a hard time getting a substantial hit on the Golems.”

The problem in these kinds of situations is that you could get your comrades caught into the range of your attacks.

Zweit started to lose his composure. Even though he knows it’s just practice, he doesn’t have composure to remain calm. That’s because, as soon as he started to get hit by the Golems, he let his emotions take the best of him.

Celestina, contrary to him, has been training in this way for a while now, so she’s remaining calm and focused on the enemies in front of her. Despite her composure, she still can’t manage to deal fatal blows by herself.

The reason they have managed to do well up until this point is because the Mud Golems are relatively fragile creations.

“They’re probably good enough to beat a Stone or Rock Golem, but they could still get fatally injured the way they are right now. It would be pointless if they can’t defeat them in a single hit either way.”

“I don’t think anyone can do that…”

“Anyone can if they master the sword, though? Well, I don’t know how long it would take.”

“You’d have to put yourself through deadly fights one after the other, every day… demon… no, you’re The Devil…”

Zeros has finally started to realize that you’d have to spend an insane amount of time to master martial arts skills. Unlike in the game world, it takes time and constant effort to master.

At last, he has started to notice the discrepancies between the two realities.

“Nii-sama, left!!”

“What!? Whoa!?”

One of the slender Mud Golems broke through the lower half of one of their fellow creations, and slashed at Zweit from below, swinging its arm like a whip.

Zweit, who directly received the attack from that unexpected place, gets blown off.

“Its movements are too unpredictable… this is bad…”

“Shit… 『 Fireball 』”

While still laying on the ground, Zweit fires a magic that goes flying straight at the Golem, but because that one boasted a higher mobility than the normal Mud Golems, it easily managed to dodge the attack.

“Y-You bastard!!”

“Sensei’s training is to help you keep your composure in battle. Your attacks are too monotonous, that’s why they’re targeting you, we’re done for if we don’t work together.”

“What!? Are you… Are you saying I’m holding you back?”

“Yes, you are! Sensei won’t miss any opportunity if you let your guard down!”

“Madman… such a merciless training…”

He stared at Zeros in disgust. However, it’s impossible to just start over in a real battle, it’s natural for him to be strict with his training.

“…It goes without saying, you aren’t allowed to take it easy during training, this is necessary for you to survive, after all.”

“I see… in actual combat, it’s all over once you stop moving. Still, there’s no reason to increase the number of Golems, right?”

“Continue for at least three more hours. Being alone in that forest is, essentially, a death sentence. Raw strength and a primeval instinct are necessary to survive there. Know that a poor insight and high pride will kill yourselves and your companions.”

“Kuh… that’s insane, but you’re right. You must’ve been through a worse hell than this.”

“This is only the beginning, it won’t be a game. You can’t just outrun a dragon after all.”

“Now that you mention it, it certainly seems that I was conceited, and that there are worse monsters out there…”

It looks like his desire to change himself for the better was true, as he takes Zeros’ words to heart.

It’s the law of nature, a little carelessness could lead to death, and even the safety in the human world is not guaranteed.

“You have to get better little by little, by yourself. Do better than you did yesterday and the day before it. There are no shortcuts.”

Zeros said something like that, but in his mind…

(What am I even saying? If these two die, it would definitely be because of my poor teaching. If that happens, How the hell would I even face this old man here!!??)

Because he was losing his nerves, his young self’s way of speaking got mixed in. No one wants to be responsible for other people’s lives, but depending on Zeros’ ability as a teacher, his students might lose theirs.

That’s why the Golems were giving them so many nasty and devious attacks.

“This is good… I feel like I can get better. They didn’t teach me this at the Academy.”

“I’m being very forgiving here, like in the academy, you can make as many mistakes as you like. You have to figure out your ideal way of fighting on your own. Fight to your heart’s content, carve it in your flesh and blood!”

(The hell am I talking about!? I’m in no position to say that, I just couldn’t think of anything more for the lesson. I have to prepare myself, I can’t continue doing this half-assed…)

Things in his mind were very different from what he was saying to them. But, because he was in the position of being their tutor, he couldn’t just come up to them with a weak attitude.

It was like the military training method from that one kung-fu movie.

(*T.N: I think it was supposed to be a reference to a specific movie but I didn’t get it;どこぞの映画の軍隊方式と、どこかのカンフー映画のパクリであった。)

His inner voice completely reverted back to his younger self’s.

“Sensei is strict after all. But, I’m happy that I can figure out the way of fighting that suits me the most.”

“This is better than practicing with Goblins that can run loose at any moment. They are a pain to fight.”

“If you get hurt I’ll heal you, alright? I’m good at healing magic.”

Depending of how you think about it, this was one hell of a training method. However, there’s no such thing as an enemy that moves as one wants, and there’s always the possibility of ending up in an overwhelming disadvantageous situation.

It’s a well thought-out method, after all, this was the original method to power-level one’s companions.

In the game, it was employed by every guild to train new players.

(*T.N: RAWs say VRRPG.)

You would raise their skills and levels up to a certain point, and then party together and go questing.

Zeros’ current training method is basically the imitation of the game’s.

“Yoshi! Now the next one!”

“It’s okay to be hot-headed here, but you should always remain calm or you’ll die sooner rather than later, you know?”

“Combat training that’s as close as a real battle… alright, let’s do it!!”

“I can’t give you the answers, your lives are your own after all… So I will recreate the situations I remember from the real battles I’ve been in.”

“Wait a minute… so this…”

“Yes, the hell I experienced when I was younger. At that time, many of my companions died…”

“Seriously… and I thought it’d be a good idea to fight this guy on the street back then…”

Of course, the situation Zeros was talking about was a quest to annihilate the mass-bred Orcs in one of the game’s raid events. At some point, the guildmaster, who was in charge of the whole operation, made a mistake that led to the death of most of his guild members.

After the incident, he started working solo without getting involved with the guild itself.

“Even monsters with low intelligence can be a threat when they have the numbers. In a melee, where wide-range attack magic can’t be used, your own personal skills are more important than anything else.”

“I see… if we can’t do melee combat, we’ll die… so this is the best training for actual combat.”

“This is really hard, but I agree. I feel like I get sensei’s intentions. You’re giving us a way to survive.”

“You don’t need a magician who can’t use magic when you actually need them to. If you’re going to get in the way of your allies, then I’d say it’s better to fight and die for them.”

Zeros is aware that he’s going on a nonsensical rant, but, internally, he was already very confused.

He thought it would be better to give off a strong impression in the beginning.

“That’s right… I was told to withdraw as quickly as possible to avoid getting dragged into a melee battle, but I don’t think it’d be that easy in a real battlefield, you could be surrounded and without a way to retreat…”

“In the first place, can you really retreat that easily? It’s not only our side that’s using battle tactics, the enemy also has their own.”

“That’s ludicrous, ‘ always assume the worst’ , that’s common sense…”

“I don’t know if I want to return to the Academy anymore… surely the training would be more dull…”

Zeros took out his pocket watch, briefly looked at the time and wholeheartedly smiled.

“Two hours… you’ll continue with this melee battle for two more hours. Try your best to survive.”

“Sensei!?… I’m almost out of mana!”

“Will the enemy wait for you to recover your mana? Don’t you see how important is to survive in such situations?”

“So, in other words, the real battle starts when you run out of mana. That’s good, this is a worthy challenge.”

“I understand. I will definitely survive!”

“Now then, I’m going to start controlling the golems again, please prepare yourselves accordingly.”

The Mud Golems begin to get into a formation.

It’s often the case that, amongst monsters, the highly intelligent individuals will command the rest.

The two students had a sense of tension and exhilaration while fighting.

(This is it! This is what I was looking for!… as expected of a great sage, no mercy.)

Zweit felt that the training in the Academy was inadequate. For him, this training, which has exponentially grown in difficulty over the past few days, was immensely more rewarding.

(Sensei is having us go through this strict training so we don’t die in a real battle, we have to respond to that as his students!)

On the other hand, Celestina knows she has no combat experience, and she’s serious enough to give her all in this training no matter what.

On top of that, Zeros’ valuation was on the rise.

The two students were in such a state, but inside his mind…

(Ah, it failed, right? The raid, at that time, it was a hell, with hordes of Orcs coming out endlessly… Uhh, I wonder if they still hold a grudge against me…)

He remembered what happened back then in the time of the game, and compared to how calmly he looks at this instant, he was actually quite anxious about it.

The game world and this reality might be similar, but there are still completely different things. So, Zeros was worried where to draw the line between them….

Thus, the two hours of nightmares began.

“But… Isn’t Tina’s equipment a bit too mediocre…?”

“Creston-san, You’re not thinking of anything outrageous, right?”

Celestina’s equipment consists of a cheap leather vest, a small buckler and a short mace that allows her to quickly strike her opponents and withdraw just as fast. But they all can be considered cheap equipment, and on top of that, it’s all covered in the Golems’ mud.

“It’s doesn’t matter if she gets dirty while wearing those, they can be thrown away. They’re fighting Mud Golems, you know?”

“That’s right, but… that’s a shame. At the very least a pure white dress and armor…”

“Blood would stain it red… and it wouldn’t come off even after washing…”

“A pure white garment is like saying ‘ please aim for me!'”

It seemed like like his granddaughter was the top priority for Creston.

“What about your other grandchild?”

“He’s a man, isn’t he?”

“・・・・・・・・・・”

Zweit was using his training outfit given by the Academy, and he gave off the feeling of a complete beginner.

However, the difference in treatment between the two was extreme. He, who respects his grandfather, doesn’t even register in his mind.

Only God knows when the day Zweit is rewarded will come.

◇　　◇　　◇　　◇

Two hours later, they were practically only standing out of pure fighting spirit.

This was the first time they had trained for such an extended period of time, and so, they experienced in the flesh how hard the training for actual battle was.

“How was it? A real battle could last 6 days, or a month, at the longest.”

(*T.N: Yeah, I’m pretty sure he said 6 days and one month…)

“Awful… it hurts… Can it really last for so long…?”

“This is at the level of a small skirmish, a real war isn’t like this… it’s more of a hell.”

“Seriously, haha… this is the best. I’m so lucky to be able to receive such training!”

Although their mana was on the verge of exhaustion, the two were enveloped in a sense of fulfillment for what they’ve accomplished.

Zeros hands a small wine bottle to them.

“Sensei… this is?”

“【 Mana Potion 】, I’m growing Mandrakes at the orphanage, and so I made this small potion. Their fertility is amazingly high, the fields were completely covered by them in just a few days…”

“Why are you cultivating such things in the orphanage!!?”

“I’m also growing other medicinal herbs, though? It will be a good source of income from now on.”

Mandrakes, which were planted at the orphanage, didn’t have a regular plant’s growth rate. They sprouted in just a day, and were ready to harvest three days later.

The problem was that they were growing so quickly, that the field was running out of space for the other crops, and so, they were hastily decimated.

If the fields are only filled with Mandrakes, then, obviously vegetables can’t be grown and the fields will get all of their nutrients squeezed out.

They don’t have a natural predator, so, on the contrary, their numbers only increase given that there’s no risk of being eaten by animals.

Therefore, the mana potion Zeros handed to them was made out of a fresh Mandrake harvested in the name of decimation.

“I don’t mind but…”

“Yeah…”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“”Why a wine bottle!?””

“Well, I didn’t have any special vials so…”

Certainly, they are mana potions. However, the bottles just make it look like young teens drinking in broad daylight. Even if it’s just recycling for Zeros, it will leave a bad impression on the people who watch them drink the potions.

It’s might be a trivial thing for him, who has different cultural values, but for the son and daughter of a noble, this was an issue.

“Well, today’s training was quite harsh. Tomorrow, we’ll do as usual. Come to think of it, Creston-san, How’s their equipment going? The schedule date for the excursion is closing in, right?”

“It’s fine. We’ve been informed that it will be ready in the next few days.”

“Alright, And what about the escort knights?”

“It seems like a squad of young knights will be sent over in the end. After all, DelSasis is quite the stingy one. How deplorable, not even sending two squads over, at the very least…”

“””Isn’t that excessive!!?? And why are you asking double of that!!”””

It seems like the old man asked DelSasis to send enough knights to go to a war. If the knights were sent to do this they would probably have to apologize to the nation.

It looks like Creston doesn’t know when to stop. For the sake of his beloved granddaughter, he will keep carrying out outrageous things.

This old man’s reckless behaviour continues…

◇　　◇　　◇　　◇　　◇　　◇　　◇

After training, Zeros when to visit the orphanage.

“What’s wrong, Luceris-san?”

“Ah! Welcome, Zeros-san”

“Thanks for the greetings, so What’s going on? It seems like you’re worried about something.”

“Actually, it’s about the Mandrakes…”

“Did something happen?”

“That’s right, you’ll understand when you see it…”

“Huh?”

Luceris grabs Zeros’ arm and leads him to the fields. He gets flustered when he feels the soft sensation on his arm by the accidental contact of her chest against it.

(S-So big! Such a great volume as well. This is bad! I feel like I’m gonna turn into a beast.)

He’s a middle-aged 40 year old man who hadn’t had a girlfriend before, so naturally, he turns meek to these kinds of attacks.

He was uncomfortable, but at the same time, he wanted the sensation to last forever.

And, in the field…

―――Ugyaaaahhh!!

The death throes of a monster echoes.

It was like a certain magic tools shop from somewhere.

“W-What’s going on?”

“When you pull out a Mandrake like that… well the children seem to be quite interested in it.”

“・・・・・・・・”

When Zeros looked over at the fields, he saw four children happily pulling out a Mandrake from the ground.

―――Hyaaaaaaaahhhh!!!

“Ahahaha! That was a great scream.”

―――Stooooooppppp!!

“That one was louder, right?”

―――Hyaaaaaghaaaaaaaa!!!!

“Wahahahaha! Let me hear you scream more!”

―――Muuuurrrdereeeerr!!

“Yep, that one was more amazing. ‘ murderer’ , You hear? That’s so funny haha!”

The children were just innocently pulling out Mandrakes from the fields, but for some reason it sounded like they were committing a heinous crime.

Every time they pull out one, the plant lets out a strange cry. Well, for the Mandrake, it may be the same as being mercilessly tortured…

“For some reason… this feels evil.”

“It feels like they’re doing terrible things to the Mandrakes.”

“It looks bad for their education…”

“The young Mandrakes didn’t cry like that when they were harvested… What should we do?”

“Even if you ask me… I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it.”

“I don’t want to get used to it, either. At some point, I feel like it’s going to leave some emotional wounds.”

The fast-growing Mandrake has an awfully high fertility rate to the point that, they reproduce fast enough to cover the fields completely.

Before that happens, by thinning them out while they’re still young, it’s possible to get a good quality Mandrake with a high effect. However, it has the distinct characteristic of raising such an unnerving scream the moment they’re pulled out.

The young Mandrakes don’t scream when they are harvested, they only start doing it when they’re fully-grown.

A cry like the victim of a tragic murder. It can definitely shatter the spirit of the person tasked with harvesting them.

They could truly drive people insane.

“Wouldn’t the neighbors misunderstand the situation…?”

“They already have, and every time I have to show them the fields…”

Picture terrifying screams coming out the back of an old church, truly a horror movie-like development.

Aren’t the children pulling them out, with such joyous expressions, totally the villains in this situation?

―――Saaaaveeemeeeeeee!!!

“Did it say ‘save me’ ?”

“It’s not good, isn’t it?…”

“Lacking variation, hmph!”

“More, I wanna hear more of these sweet voices resonating in the deepest parts of my heart…”

The children were truly cruel. Small, mischievous demons.

“Well, this is the orphanage’s income after all… just don’t pay much attention.”

“I can’t do it… I’m not guilty, I don’t want to get used to it…”

“I see, if it’s so hard, then there’s no choice but to pull them all out.”

Whilst saying that, Zeros grabs the stem of a nearby Mandrake and pulls as hard as he could.

―――Hiyaaa!! Raaaaaapeeee!!

“That’s slander! Shut up!”

Zeros looks bitterly at the Mandrake. He never thought that it would come to this kind of pattern.

For some reason, he felt Luceris’ eyes were colder as she was looking at him.

“Zeros-san…you, I don’t even know what to say…”

“I didn’t even do anything! It’s just how the Mandrake screams!!”

It seems like it was going to be a difficult task in many ways. After all, just pulling one can make you a criminal.

“Do you get it now? This is quite dangerous for my spirit.”

“Just don’t take them seriously, there’s no way… so far there had only been false accusations, you know?”

If one of the neighbors, who’s not aware of the situation, hears it, it’s at the level where you could be branded as a dangerous pervert.

But the Mandrakes have to be pulled out. Otherwise, they will cover the entirely of the fields and won’t leave any space for vegetables or other medicinal herbs.

Moreover, now it’s the ideal time to take care of the problem. If they leave it they way it is at the moment, they will, eventually, disperse their seeds all around, leading to an uncontrollable situation in which they’ve bred indiscriminately.

―――Saaacrifiiceeeedd!!!

―――Theeewooooorssst!!

―――Currseeeyoouaall!!

The amount of mental damage is too much for adults. Zeros was really envious of the children who could just pull them out so innocently.

“Well… as adults, it’d be bad if we do nothing about this.”

“That’s right, haah…”

The two of them resign themselves, and started to pull out the Mandrakes.

―――Stooooopppleaseee!!

―――Mamaaaheeeelp!!

―――Saaaaveeeemee!!

Their spirits didn’t hold out.

They felt as if the screams were resonating directly in their hearts.

“W-What is this plant…”

“We’re terrible villains… honestly, I’m starting to lose my will to live.”

The Mandrakes’ mental attacks were too severe. And, Zeros’ and Luceris’ character was too good.

Only the children were able to remain unaffected by them.

―――Ahh… Mooooreee…. haarrrdeer…♡

“ Are? A different pattern?”

“Pervert!”

“What does it mean with ‘ do it harder’? Let’s ask the sister.”

“Or uncle.”

“”No! Stop! It’s still too early for you!!””

Whether it was accidentally or intentionally, the Mandrakes have stimulated the curiosity of the children.

Although, that thing seems to understands that it’s dealing mental damage to the adults.

How dreadful, it seemed like an intelligent plant capable of speaking… It’s hard for Zeros and Luceris to think of it as just another vegetable.

The children’s innocent curiosity became a dangerous weapon for the pure girl that hadn’t had a boyfriend in her 18 years of life, and the middle-aged uncle who had never married.

“Sex education is still a bit….”

“It’s too early, isn’t it? Maybe eventually they’ll… no, it’s still not good.”

For the rest of the day, Zeros and Luceris, will be troubled thinking of a way to bring up sex education for the orphanage’s children.

Later on, when they realized that they could’ve used the earth magic 『 Gaia Control 』, they got so depressed, their spirits were in the negatives.

・

・

・

・

By the time the harvest was over, the two of them were completely exhausted. It wasn’t physical fatigue, it was purely mental exhaustion, and their faces were showing some dangerous signs.

Their eyes were dead, just staring at the dark void, and, with a thin smile, talking to the air.

“Sister, Uncle, what happened to you two?”

“I don’t know, What should we do with these…?”

“Let’s line them up under the shade…”

“Meat…. I wanna eat me-e-eat….”

Only the children were completely unaffected. Zeros didn’t know if they were willing to work, but the children were storing the Mandrakes with the method taught by him, hanging them on the storage room that was behind the orphanage building.

Thanks to their efforts, the orphanage’s finances have been stabilizing, and they were able to get good meals after two days.

But… from that day on, the orphanage was known as the ‘ Screaming Church’ between the neighboring people.

Additionally, a thief, that heard about the rumors of Mandrakes being in the church, was apprehended by the neighbors after they heard their screams.

In a sense, the Mandrakes might be a really effective security alarm.

―――Thiiieeeeeeff!!

“Wha!? Shit!!”

“””That’s a thief, catch him!!”””

“What the fuck!? Why are there so many people here!?”

“How would I know!”

And so, that night, another thief was caught by the Mandrake alarm.

At the same time, a small amount of gold is shared with the neighbors for catching the thieves.

Luceris doesn’t know that the neighbors have formed a complex vigilante network around the church to be able to catch the thieves immediately. However, they will continue to lie in wait that night.

They had a new prey to catch…