I’m Just Leveling up Efficiently, but for Some Reason, the People Around Me Seem to Be Looking at Me With Disapproval - Chapter 13

When I got back to the square, it was no longer a battlefield.
Fires had been put out, and the villagers were checking each survivor one by one.
Injured people lay on stretchers while Mom and the other healers squeezed out every last drop of their magic power.

Gald’s body was still lying there.
No one went near it.
They probably didn’t want to.
The moment they got close, they’d remember how close they all came to dying tonight.

“Yushuu-kun.”

I turned at the voice and saw Avi.
She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
Her eyes were puffy.
But the second she saw me, her face softened.

“You must be tired.”
“Yeah. You too.”
“I only prayed.”
“No, you really helped.”

I said it honestly.
During the middle of the boss fight, there were a few moments when I was starting to run out of breath, and then suddenly my body felt lighter.
That feeling was definitely from Avi’s prayer.
Without it, I would’ve taken a few more hits.
And if that happened, I might have gone down before my knife could reach his vital spots.

“Let me test your skill next time.”
“…Test?”
“Stuff like range, magic cost, targeting conditions.”

Avi blinked a few times.
“Yushuu-kun, even after all that, you’re still the same Yushuu-kun.”
“Who else would I be?”
“I don’t know. But I’m glad.”

Avi’s lips curved up just a tiny bit.
She’s always had a hard-to-read smile.
But that one was definitely a smile.

That’s when it happened.

“–Hey, boy.”

A raspy voice.
I turned around and saw the village elder standing there.
A bent-backed old man with a white beard.
He leaned on his staff, and only his eyes held a strength that didn’t match his age.

“Got a moment to talk?”
“With me?”
“Who else is there?”

The elder jerked his chin toward Gald’s body.
“You took that one down, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Then I’ve only got business with you.”

I gave Avi a quick look that said “wait for me,” then followed the elder.

＊＊＊

The elder walked to the edge of the square, behind a barn that hadn’t burned down, and stopped there.
It was a spot hard for the other villagers to see.

“You’ve got white wolf tribe blood in you, don’t you?”
“Yeah. From Mom.”
“Where did your mother come from?”
“…I don’t know. She only said she traveled here from the north.”

The elder let out a long breath.
“Hmm.”
“Is that a problem?”
“A white wolf woman washes up in a village at the edge of the Jen Islands Union. And on the very night her son receives a blessing, he takes down an ugly pig captain orc.”

The elder’s eyes narrowed.
“This stands out.”
“Stands out?”
“The Dible Empire is pushing south right now. Tonight’s attack on this island was just the opening move. Gald’s unit was probably scouting for a bridgehead and cleaning up the residents.”
“Yeah, he did say something like that.”
“And their advance team got wiped out without a trace. Communications cut off.”
“…Yeah.”

I caught on right away once he said it.
Next, the main force would come.
Or an investigation team.
Either way, other ugly pig orcs would show up on this island to find out what happened.
And they’d notice me, the one who survived.

“So more experience point chunks are coming?”
“…Is that all you think about?”
“Sorry.”
“No, well… kids like you might actually survive longer.”

The elder gave a small smile, then quickly pulled his face back into a serious look.

“One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“White wolf blood is special.”
“Special?”
“That tribe has always been small in number. And they have great compatibility with blessings. Your level growth is probably much faster than a normal human’s.”

Oh, I get it.
That clicked right away.
The huge jump when I beat Gald.
The steady gains from killing small orcs.
I did feel like it was fast, but since I had nothing to compare it to, I thought it was normal.
So it’s a racial bonus, huh.
…I really drew a good one.
It’s a race made for main characters.
For an efficiency gamer, it’s the best possible starting boost.

“That’s… really good to hear.”
“It’s not just good.”
“What do you mean?”
“The white wolf tribe has a history of being targeted by the central races on the continent for certain reasons. If you stand out too much, they’ll notice you eventually.”

The elder’s voice grew low and heavy.
“Especially be careful on nights with a red moon.”
“Red moon?”
“It’s a night when white wolf blood stirs. Ask your mother for the details. She should know more than me.”

I looked up at the elder.
At some point, he was only a head taller than me.
Or maybe my height had grown quickly.
The physical changes from leveling up might affect the body more than I thought.
I need to test that too.

“Last piece of advice.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t stay here long.”
“…Yeah.”

I nodded.
I had already started to feel that even without him saying it.
There were no more experience sources left in this village.
The small ugly pig orcs had dried up.
All that remained was to wait for the main force… or head out ourselves.
When thinking about efficiency, the answer was obvious.
Waiting meant lost opportunities.

“I’ll set out on a journey.”
“Good.”
“I’ll talk it over with my family, but—”
“Don’t talk it over.”
“Huh?”
“If you talk, they’ll try to stop you. Decide first, then tell them. It’s faster to make big decisions yourself while you’re young.”

The elder placed his hand on my shoulder with a light pat.
It was a thin, bony hand, but warm.

“Go on, white boy. Go gather as many of those experience points as you want.”

At those words, I couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s the best send-off ever, Elder.”
“…You’re a strange kid.”
“I get that a lot.”

＊＊＊

The sky grew even brighter.
Dawn was breaking.
I went back to the center of the square.
Dad and Mom were waiting for me there.
Avi stood with the blanket still wrapped around her.

“Yushuu.”

Mom called my name.
Her tears had dried up.
Instead, something like resolve burned in the back of her eyes.

“You’re planning to leave, aren’t you?”
“…You can tell?”
“I’m your mother.”

She saw right through me.
Well, mothers are sharp about stuff like this.
Game mom characters are usually the same.
They figure out the story is moving even when you haven’t said anything.

“What about Dad?”
“I’m going with you.”
“Huh?”

My real voice slipped out.
Dad had his sword on his back again and looked straight at me.
“I’ll have to quit my job as a local guard. But that’s fine.”
“Wait, but the village—”
“I don’t have the strength to protect the village anymore. Tonight made that painfully clear.”

Dad’s voice was calm.
But it wasn’t self-pity.
It was a cool, honest recognition of the facts.

“I won’t let you go alone. Erin is coming too.”
“You…”
“If we’re tracing the white wolf blood, we need to visit Erin’s hometown once. For Yushuu’s sake.”

Mom nodded deeply.

“Avi, you should come with us too.”
“Eh—”

Avi’s eyes widened.
“Avi is already like a daughter to us. We can’t leave her here.”
“But I…”
“You received a blessing too, right? You should polish that power. For the sake of the people important to you.”

Avi gripped the blanket tightly.
After a long silence, she spoke with a trembling voice.
“…I’ll go with you.”

I let out a small breath.
Not bad at all.
A journey with companions has a lower accident rate than solo.
Having a healer and a scout as standard equipment makes for a solid party setup.
Even Dad, the warrior, is coming along.
For an early-game party, it’s honestly a luxurious lineup.

“Got a destination in mind?”
“For now, we’ll cross the sea.”

Dad pointed east.
“The southern tip of the Arcana Continent. If we head north from there, we’ll reach the white wolf village eventually.”
“Sounds like we’ll run into lots of monsters on the way.”
“Yeah. Plenty of them.”

Dad grinned.
It was a warrior’s smile.
That grin finally matched the father I remembered.

Yeah, that’s right.
Dad was originally this kind of person.
He’s the guy who traveled around and met Mom.
He had just dried up while living in the village.
Deep down, he belonged to this side.

I looked around at my family and Avi, then nodded.
“Got it. When do we leave?”
“After dawn, once we’ve finished the burials in the village.”
“Understood.”

It was a short exchange.
But it was enough.

In the distance, the first light of dawn painted a single orange streak across the burned rooftops.
The blood from last night dried black in that light.
The long night was finally coming to an end.
And my real leveling journey— it starts here.