Located in the northwest of the Ribel Kingdom there is a by no means large town called Attis . Although not quite a rural village, it has lush greenery and in one sweep of the eye one can see a lake spread out before a mountain range several thousand meters tall in all its beauty in the refreshing sun .
In that Attis, there is a small restaurant in the corner of the town . A little past noon, during a time that where customers are sparse, a lone girl raises her voice bitterly .
âAah, Why canât I pass!?â
Sitting at the counter, although not quite drunk she kept repeating the same complaint .
Maybe because he couldnât overlook her, the owner called out to the girl .
âYou seem pretty mad, Jou-chan . â
âOf course Iâm mad! Even though I came all this way, how could it be blocked off right before my eyesâŚâ
âBlocked off?â
âI want to go there . â
The girl points outside the window at the symbol of the mountain range, Mount Giran and answers .
The shop owner reacts almost too surprised to that answer .
âEeh!? Jou-chan, you plan on entering Mount Giran?â
âWhat about it?â
âGive up! I donât know what your objective is but there are a lot of monsters in the mountains . â
âI know . Thatâs why thereâs a restriction to entering the mountain . For that reason I hired those guys to come with meâŚ!â
As she remembered, her anger returned .
Mount Giran exceeds 4000 meters with the last 1000 meters is always covered in snow; itâs the largest mountain in the Ribel Kingdom . Adding onto just the difficulty of climbing it, the snowy mountain is dominated by powerful monsters .
Thatâs why she hired 5 mercenaries to act as her guards . It seemed favorable until they arrived at Attis, but when she told them they were climbing Mount Giran they scattered in all directions .
Just that proves how dangerous it was, but she couldnât accept it . She paid half up-front but the journey didnât have many perils so she couldnât help but feel like she was ripped off .
At any rate, for various reasons the girl â Lifa was angry .
âThe capable people in this town also turned me downâŚâ
With no spirit Lifa spits out the words as if they were poison . Seeing that a bitter smile appears on the shop ownerâs face . Because they live in Attis they all deeply understand the dangers of Mount Giran .
âIt canât be helped . You need permission from the Knight Order to climb Mount Giran anyway . â
TL Note: I believe the Knight Order is the Chivalric Order from the previous translation but Iâm not sure so Iâll leave it as is .
The ones that give permission to enter the mountains is the Knight Order that are currently blockading the mountain range . They wonât give out permissions to someone with superficial strength .
For that reason Lifa hired mercenaries, but since they ran away the problem is she canât receive permission .
Coming all this way and not being able to do anything .
âIs there anyway I can enter~âŚâ
Rifa fell down on the counter table .
When she did that, the bell for the shops entrance rang as it opened .
Then a little after it opened surprise spread in the shop .
Sensing the disturbance Rifa turns around .
The first impression is black . A young man whoâs atmosphere was filled with indifference stood there . Looking at all the customers with distant eyes he mumbled something to himself . It couldnât be described as a good atmosphere .
âWhoâs that?â
Being caught by the surrounding customers tension Rifa asks the shop owner in a small voice . But the answer came from a different place .
âHeâs Harold Stokes . He carries the nickname âKnight Killerâ and is the countryâs strongest swordsman . Before he was called âBad Boy Haroldâ . â
âHmmm⌠And, you are?â
âIâm just a humble traveler . â
Sporting grey hair and honey color eyes with an androgynous face and voice . The traveler had a large inflated yellow hat that stood out .
Although the traveler seemed to about Rifaâs age she could not tell if the traveler was a boy or a girl .
âBefore that, Harold Stokes is quite an infamous name . Do you not know it?â
âUnfortunately his infamy hasnât reached where Iâm from . â
More accurately, Rifa was a bit of an eccentric and was isolated in her hometown so learning something by hearsay is completely impossible .
She hungrily pursues her own interests, but anything else is shutout . Itâs her first time hearing about someone with the dangerous nickname of âKnight Killerâ .
But for Rifa that kind of thing didnât matter . The important matter was the next point .
âYou said he was the strongest swordsman in the country . Is that strong?â
âOf course . To the degree that he could take on the several tens of the elites of the Knight Order and come out unharmed . His strength could be said to be near the current head of the Knight Order, Vincent . â
TL Note: It is the same order looks like but Iâm too lazy to change it . So it will now be Knight Order!
âSo heâs in the strongest class of humans then . â
Rifaâs pupils glittered suspiciously .
If heâs that strong then he could probably get permission to go to Mount Giran .
âOi oi, Jou-chan, it canât beâŚâ
Seeing through her intentions the owner tried to stop her but his voice fell on deaf ears .
Standing up with vigor she quickly walked until she was standing in front of Harold .
The 140 cm tall Rifa looks up at the 180 cm tall Harold . However there wasnât a speck of hesitation in Rifa .
âGot a minute?â
ââŚWho the hell are you?â
âIâm Rifa . Youâre Harold right?â
ââŚâ
Harold doesnât confirm or deny . Just silence .
But his face warps in distaste . From the previous talks it seems heâs famous, but it looks like he doesnât like that .
Feeling that Rifa continues the conversation .
âI have a request that suits your capabilities . Of course there will be a reward . â
âRequest, is it?â
âThatâs right . I want you to climb Mount Giran with me as my guard!â
â
Walnut colored hair done up in braids . A blouse with red as its base, a miniskirt with a check pattern, and knee-high socks; a set of clothing full of cleverness . Above all, her characteristic white robe that went down to her knees .
Rifa Goodridge .
Harold encountered the self-styled genius inventor that could be said to be the head of the loli department in the heroâs party . Moreover she asked him to be her guard .
(I just wanted to get some food, howâd it become thisâŚ)
Rifa isnât from Attis but rather Weiss village . Harold isnât sure why sheâs here but since heâs in the middle of a job he has no obligation to listen to her request .
He doesnât but strangely their destination is the same Mount Giran .
Although theyâre only separated by 3 years he looked down at Rifa who had a height difference with him that was closer to a child and an adult .
With a confidence that didnât match her stature she gazed back at Harold . From the top of her head 2 antennae-like strands of hair stood up proudly .
âA little brat like you wants to climb a mountain? Donât make me laugh . â
TL Note: Although âkisamaâ is normally translated as bastard I think it sounds a bit awkward calling girls that . The literal translation of kisama is just a very rude way to say you, so Iâm going to take some liberties .
âEven though I look like this Iâm 15 years old!â
I knew that . Compared to her age, including her height, various parts havenât grown well but itâs clear that sheâs around 15 years old .
That was the setting of her profile, too .
âIn the first place whatâs your objective? That mountain doesnât have anything like toys or amusement parks . â
âI want to get data on the body of a Hydra . If possible a sample too . â
On Rifaâs words, not only Harold but everyone in the store lost their words .
The Hydra is Mount Giranâs chief . In short itâs a boss monster . Mercenaries and knights would only be lambs to the slaughter at most .
In the game if the party fought it around level 20 theyâd probably win . But thatâs only assuming they challenge it in a group . For Rifa to challenge it alone thereâs the danger of her dying .
In the first place just getting to the Hydra alone is dubious . The encounter rate of monsters in Mount Giran was high .
Considering that it was the right choice to ask Harold to be her guard .
âBut I donât have any obligation to listen to your stupid request?â
âIâm not forcing you . Iâll ask others . â
âI donât think such a suicidal guy can be found easily though . â
ââŚa month or half a year, Iâll keep at it . I have a reason to go that far . â
He could feel her obstinacy . If Harold refused sheâd probably keep looking for months like she said .
But thatâs where the problem is . Itâs just before the start of the original work .
Originally if Rifa who met Linerâs group at Weiss village wasnât there, the original workâs party was in danger of being very different . In the game, when she joined the party the âcompoundâ command became available .
If handled poorly they might not be able to make items and weapons . At the worst they wonât be able to obstruct the miasma breaking out in the Sumeragi territory or stop Justusâ plans .
Her magic and scientific knowledge were important to the continuation of the story as well .
In short if Rifa is stuck at Attis the situation wouldnât be very good .
Then itâs better if he did his job along with taking the request and quickly send her back .
ââŚFine . If youâll take my conditions Iâll lend my power . â
âEh, really!? Yatta-!â
Without even hearing his conditions Rifa wholeheartedly celebrates . Looking at the girl in front of him he was definitely going to be dropped into a dangerous situation, thought Harold as he sighed .
Then before the conversation could be settled an interruption came .
âWhat an interesting conversation . â
A voice, like Rifaâs, that Harold was used to hearing from the game .
A casket cap and yellow overalls . Inside those clothes wearing nothing but a cotton wrap around the chest . And a packed shawl bag resting on the shoulder .
A 15-16 year old boy or girl that could be said to be beautiful for either gender stood there while smiling .
âIf itâs alright, I hope I can come along too . â
Before he knew it standing next to him was the information broker Giffelt who asked without breaking a smile .