I’m Just Leveling up Efficiently, but for Some Reason, the People Around Me Seem to Be Looking at Me With Disapproval - Chapter 11

From behind me, I hear small footsteps running closer.

I turn around and see Avi dashing toward me.

Her face is a total mess from crying.

Her legs are shaking from how worn out she is after all that praying.

But even so, she keeps running straight at me.

“Yushuu-kun…!”

Sobbing hard, Avi throws herself into my chest.

She hugs me tight without any hesitation, even though I’m covered in blood.

“Whoa, hey… your clothes are gonna get dirty.”

“It’s fine… it’s okay…!”

Avi keeps hitting my chest over and over.

“You promised you wouldn’t die… but look at you, all beat up like this…!”

“Nah, most of this is old blood…”

“Shut up, shut up…!”

Hmm.

She’s really mad.

Well, that’s fine.

It’s pretty rare for Avi to cry.

She’s always been the type who doesn’t show big emotions on her face.

I awkwardly pat Avi on the head.

“…Thanks for saving me. That prayer of yours really helped.”

“…”

“Thanks.”

Avi doesn’t say anything back.

She just buries her face in my chest and starts crying loudly again.

＊＊＊

“Yushuu!”

“Yushuu…!”

The ones rushing over are Dad and Mom.

Both of them are breathing hard.

The second Mom sees me, she drops to her knees right there.

“Ah… ah, you’re alive… you’re really alive… Yushuu…”

“Yeah, I’m alive. I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay at all, look at you… like this…!”

Mom sees my wounds and starts crying again.

She tries to cast healing magic in a panic.

But Mom’s magic power isn’t enough to close all my injuries.

I gently take her hand and stop her.

“It’s fine. The level up healed most of it already.”

“But…”

“I’m serious. Look.”

I spread my arms wide to show her.

Sure enough, most of the deep cuts have already closed up.

All that’s left are shallow scratches.

Even so, Mom keeps crying.

Dad stands right in front of me without saying a word.

He just looks down at me in silence.

All kinds of feelings are swirling in his eyes.

Pride.

Regret.

Guilt.

And just a little bit of relief.

“…Yushuu.”

“Yeah.”

“You did good coming back.”

That’s all Dad says.

It was a short line.

But it was more than enough.

I nod.

“I’m home, Dad.”

Right then.

From far away, I hear the panicked screams of the ugly pig orcs.

They must have noticed Gald went down.

The unit that lost its leader starts falling apart in seconds.

Some run away, others go wild in the chaos.

Hmm.

There’s still experience points left.

I wipe the drool from my mouth again.

“Dad. The villagers still haven’t all evacuated yet, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then I’ll go work a little more.”

“Yushuu!?”

Mom shouts, but I’m already on my feet.

Dad lets out a long breath.

Then he pulls the sword from his waist and holds it out to me.

“Take this. It’s better than that survival knife.”

“Dad?”

“I’m coming too.”

A warrior’s light is back in Dad’s eyes.

He wasn’t going to stay someone who only gets protected by his son.

It was the light of that kind of resolve.

“…Avi. Mom. You two stay somewhere safe.”

“Yushuu-kun.”

“I’ll be right back. This time I really mean it.”

Avi wipes her tears and gives a firm nod.

“Yeah… I believe in you.”

I take the sword from Dad.

It’s heavy and solid in my hand.

But not bad at all.

If I put just a bit into strength, I should be able to swing it fine.

Alright.

Time to clean up the rest of the orcs.

＊＊＊

That night, at the edge of the central square in the village, one old man stood looking down at the body of the ugly pig captain orc captain that had rolled to the ground.

He was the village elder.

A single precise stab had gone straight through the center of his chest, right into the heart.

There were countless other cuts too, but every one of them hit vital spots like muscles and blood vessels.

The elder frowned deeply.

“…This is not how a child fights.”

He mutters to himself.

“White wolf tribe blood, huh…”

The old man’s finger gently strokes the handle of the knife still buried deep in Gald’s chest.

The blood is still warm.

“If something like this awakened in a village at the edge of the Jen Islands Union…”

The old man looks up at the sky.

Through a gap in the clouds, two moons are peeking out.

A big moon and a small red moon.

The red one looks unusually bright tonight.

“–They’ll notice soon enough on the other side too.”

The old man’s voice doesn’t reach anyone.

It just sinks quietly into the silence left after the battle.