Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)
Volume 1 - Ch 1.3

Chapter 1: The First Village, Part 3

I can no longer hear the surrounding sounds. I dont know who screams what anymore. I simply run straight ahead with the intention of attacking the Bandit Leader.

One of the bandits noticed me as I was on my way and jumped at me to stop me, so I had no choice but to slash him twice before he would do the same to me. I think his level is Lv2. As he was falling onto the ground I didnt even pay him any attention, I just raised Durandal up and resumed my advance. I simply continued to run while striking down those who would stand in my way, and after I jumped over the bodies of some fallen Bandits Ive finally found myself next to their leader, who had still failed to notice me due to the commotion from the battles around him. I tightened my grip on the swords handle, and with my feet planted firmly in the ground I performed a spinning slash aimed at the Bandit Leaders neck. When he realized what was going on, it was already too late for him to do anything. Durandal struck him dead in the neck, cleaving it as if it was made of butter and sending his head flying high into the air before it finally fell at his feet. The expression on his face was that of utter shock and disbelief. But that was not important to me now. The important thing was the blood that gushed out of the place where the decapitated head was just moments ago, and let me tell you, it was like a fountain. Oh wow o-oh, shit oh fuck why is it not stopping already?! Why does it keep on splashing around?!

No! Michio, stop acting like a bitch-ass pussy and get a grip already! You dont have the luxury of standing around admiring the gory details! There are still Bandits around who are in desperate need of a beating!

I did just like I said and engaged the other enemies. They were all felled by a single blow of my Holy Sword. With each swing another bloody fountain was created, sending scarlet droplets into the air, culling down the enemys numbers.

Once all of the small fries were finely chopped like the pieces of logwood, my attention turned to the second strongest Bandit, the one who looked like their Leaders right hand. Together with a couple more of his goons he was attacking a group of villagers who formed a defensive formation around their chief, who somehow managed to get back on his feet after that critical attack between the pieces of his armor. When I approached them, one of them screamed something to the others while pointing towards me. The second-in-command also looked at me and also started screaming, after which he and all of his remaining men began to run with their tails tucked between their legs. Looks like my little sneak attack also managed to inflict some sick psychological damage as well.

Now that they have turned their backs on me, this is another perfect chance. I started to chase after them, slaughtering anyone whos back had the misfortune of bumping into Durandals pointy end, until I happened upon the third strongest man among the entire group of bandits, the one who was Lv11. Without saying anything he just assumed a fighting stance and charged at me, slashing at me from left to right and right to left in an attempt to overwhelm me with a barrage of blows. I managed to block some of them, but the rest I was forced to dodge by rolling backwards and to the sides like a mad acrobat. This opponent is wearing better armor than the rest of the Bandits, so I wont be able to defeat him by just swinging my sword around randomly. I grabbed Durandals handle with both of my hands again and also assumed my stance. If theres one thing I learned from my kendo lessons, it is that when you are fighting against an armored opponent, your moves are all thats important.

He tried to slash me from above, so I quickly sidestepped and slashed him on the wrist, wounding it severely. Durandal is truly strong, being able to inflict such wounds with such a shallow cut. However, the Bandit ignored the blood dripping from his wrist and attacked me again. I prepared myself to block and counter it, but it turned out that he was just feinting that attack. His real aim was to swing his bleeding hand at me so that the blood from the wound splash into my eyes, momentarily blinding me. Of course, he used that chance to get away.

Right now, all of the bandits were in full retreat mode, running for their lives like the little bitches they were. So I guess the likes of them are only tough when they are absolutely sure of their advantage. What a bunch of losers.

Before they completely retreated, I finished off as many of them as I could. None of them posed a threat to me now, not when they were exposing their backs to me as they were trying to get away. Eventually only a handful of them managed to flee, but I still managed to earn quite a lot of experience points in the end, so I think that it was all worth the trouble.

Fuuu~~

Breathing a sigh of relief after the battle was over, I just sat down right where I stood. Even if this is only a game, all that moving around was still pretty tiring, just like in real life, so I need a moment to calm myself down from all that battle high. Little by little, the sound of the surroundings are flowing into my ears again as I look around the battlefield to get the grasp of the situation. As one might have expected, the whole field is littered with corpses, mostly the bandit ones, and the pools of spilt blood. Not a pretty sight at all, I can tell you that. And by the looks of it, the bodies of the dead are not going to disappear immediately. What an unnecessary bit of realism. I wonder if its something that the beta testers overlooked. Then again, do VR games even have beta testers to being with? Or maybe I am doing the testing right now? If that is indeed the case, then maybe I should file a complaint to the developers.

As I was contemplating what should be the contents of my complaint, the village chief approached me.

I dont know what to say, oh brave stranger.

I glanced at him when he finished talking. Even though the language setting was that Brahim or whatever, the first word was totally incomprehensible to me, but with every next word I could understand what he was saying more clearly.

Oh, forgive my rudeness. Tell me, do you speak Brahim, stranger?

I know it to some extent.

I replied to him.

Ohh, and you speak it so fluently even though youre not looking like a local. Are you perhaps an Adventurer?

Perhaps my ass! It should be obvious at first glance!

Well, I guess you could say that.

I politely confirmed his suspicions. After all, I dont want to make him my enemy by being unnecessarily rude or secretive. If possible, I want to build friendly relations with them because who knows, maybe Ill be able to benefit from it quite a bit?

Thank you for saving our village from those filthy brigands. You have our undying gratitude, young Adventurer.

No need to thank me. I just did what everyone else would do if they were placed in such a situation.

I tried to brush it off as if it were the most natural thing to do. Also, something about this whole situation seemed awfully fishy to me. For someone of his age and level, the village chief appeared to be almost too humble to me. Why would he use such a polite tone and words when talking to a Lv1 brat like me? Okay, I get that I probably saved his life and all, but even for something like that it seems to be a little too much.

Please, allow me to reward you for your bravery and selflessness. Is there anything I can do for you?

Hmm, let me think oh, then, if it isnt too much trouble, I dont have any place to stay, so maybe you could do something about that?

Although it is a game, the fatigue I felt was very much real. For virtual reality thats quite an achievement. Other than that, I simply didnt want to stay here on this battlefield anymore than it was absolutely necessary. I wanted to leave it as fast as possible.

Come stay at my house then. My name is Somala and Im the chief of this village.

Identify told me the same. His Job was really listed as Village Chief.

My name is Kaga Michio. Pleased to meet you and thank you for your kind offer.

XXX father! XXXXXXXXXXXXX.

I couldnt understand most of the conversation between the village chief and the villagers, even though I could understand the chief himself quickly. Just what is going on in this game?

Are there many people here who can speak Brahim?

That would be just me and the village trader.

Is that so?

I must say, youre quite amazing, Michio-sama. Youre able to speak Brahim even though youre so young!

Is that really something so amazing? And by the way, Brahim is not Japanese. Far from it, actually, it is a language that sounds like everything but Japanese. But for some bizarre reason I was able to understand those who also knew how to speak it. As for everyone else, even if they spoke to me, I couldnt understand a single word they were saying. Looks like I will only be able to hold a conversation with the village chief and that other person.

Looking at the chief, I have to say that he didnt look like someone whos a Lv25, and a former Adventurer at that. I mean, Village Chief was the only Job he had listed, so maybe in this game your status changes in real-time depending on the choices you make and the actions you take?

While were at it, lets have another look at my own status.

Kaga Michio, Male, 17 years old

Jobs: Villager Lv2 Thief: Lv2

Equipment: Holy Sword Durandal, Ring of Determination, Sandals

Sweet, looks like the levels of my jobs went up as a result of that battle earlier. Well since it was as fierce as it was then what did you expect? My only gripe would be that after killing so many Bandits I only managed to gain a single level in each of my jobs. Looks like grinding levels is going to be a serious pain in the ass.

By the time I finished the inspection of my status we had already arrived at the Chiefs house.