I’m Just Leveling up Efficiently, but for Some Reason, the People Around Me Seem to Be Looking at Me With Disapproval - Chapter 3

At that moment, Yushuu’s father Yujin was fighting an Ugly Pig Tribe Orc.

(Damn… We really can’t beat these Ugly Pig Tribe Orcs… But…)

He glanced behind him.

A mother and daughter were hugging each other with scared looks on their faces.

They had been too slow to escape and got attacked. Yujin found them just in time and jumped in between.

But he didn’t think he could win like this.

“Kuhaha! What’s wrong? Is this all you humans can do!”

The machete swung from right to left.

Yujin dodged it somehow while looking for any chance to win.

The swings were big and wild.

Pure power with no technique at all.

Just overwhelming strength.

Probably because of their race, their strength stat was high from the start.

Plus there was a level gap.

Their speed was on another level too.

Yujin was doing everything he could just to dodge.

But there had to be an opening somewhere.

Find it.

Spot it.

You have to find it.

If you don’t, you’ll die.

——Found it.

The guy was probably right-handed.

That meant his attacks from the left side were a bit sloppy.

When Yujin circled to the left, the swing got a little slower.

If he aimed there, maybe——.

Yujin made up his mind.

He quickly moved to the left side.

The Ugly Pig Tribe Orc let out a surprised voice when he saw it.

“…What!?”

He must have known it himself.

That his left side was his weak point.

That’s why he had been adjusting his body so it looked natural for Yujin to stay on his right.

“Tch!”

The Ugly Pig Tribe Orc clicked his tongue and tried to twist his body.

But Yujin was faster.

“Got you.”

Yujin tried to thrust his sword into the wide-open left side——.

“Wha!?”

Clang!

A metallic sound rang out.

The survival knife in the orc’s left hand had blocked Yujin’s sword.

“Kukuku… Did you really think I’d just leave my weak spot open?”

“What…?”

“I knew a long time ago that my left side gets sloppy. No way I’d leave such an obvious weakness wide open.”

It was over.

Yujin’s last desperate plan got crushed, and his knees gave out.

Ah…

I couldn’t protect them.

The mother and daughter behind him would get killed next.

Yujin was a village guard.

When he became one, he thought he was ready.

Ready to protect the village even if it cost his life.

But he couldn’t.

The village, the villagers, everyone…

He was going to leave Erin, Yushuu, and Avi behind.

I wonder if those three managed to escape.

As long as they’re alive, that’s enough for me…

While thinking that, Yujin started to lower his head in despair——.

“Uraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

There was the sound of flesh being cut.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A scream rang out.

It was the Ugly Pig Tribe Orc screaming.

“Wh-what…?”

Yujin looked up.

There was Yushuu.

Yushuu covered in blood.

“Y-Yushuu…?”

Why?

What happened to Erin and Avi?

Why did he come back here and start fighting an Ugly Pig Tribe Orc?

He didn’t understand.

But somehow Yujin could tell.

Yushuu had received his blessing.

And Yushuu had come back with the resolve to die, for the sake of the village.

He came back alone to protect Yujin, the village, and the villagers.

You could see it on his face.

His cheeks were twitching.

He was terrified.

Of course he was.

It was an Ugly Pig Tribe Orc.

An opponent many times bigger than him.

No way he wasn’t scared.

Even so, he was still fighting.

Still facing it head on.

How pathetic I am.

My plan got beaten once and my heart broke right away.

I fell into despair.

But look at Yushuu.

“Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

He charged at the Ugly Pig Tribe Orc and went all out.

He dodged the attacks easily and kept landing hits one after another.

…But how did he suddenly get so strong?

When that question hit him, Yujin gasped.

That speed, that power — it wasn’t normal level anymore.

That meant he had already beaten a bunch of Ugly Pig Tribe Orcs.

It was proof he was gathering experience points at an insane rate.

The blood on Yushuu was probably not just from the enemies.

It was his own blood.

He had been fighting by cutting away at his own body.

Not a metaphor — it was proof he kept fighting while letting his own flesh get cut.

When you level up, your body heals completely.

That’s common knowledge.

Which meant Yushuu had been repeating getting hurt, healing, getting hurt, healing, all while fighting the Ugly Pig Tribe Orcs just for the village.

“You little shiiiiit!! Don’t get cocky, brat! I’ll smash you flat!”

The Ugly Pig Tribe Orc swung his machete wildly with blood rushing to his head.

But none of it hit Yushuu.

How many fights had he been through in this short time?

Yushuu’s fighting style was so polished it made him think that.

“This is the end.”

When Yushuu muttered that, he stabbed the survival knife deep into the Ugly Pig Tribe Orc’s heart.

“Damn… Killed by a kid like this…”

The Ugly Pig Tribe Orc muttered and fell flat on the ground.

He won.

Yushuu, his own son, had beaten the Ugly Pig Tribe Orc that he couldn’t defeat.

Right after.

Yushuu crouched down on the ground like he was collapsing.

“Yushuu!”

Yujin rushed over in a panic.

“Are you okay!?”

“…Dad.”

Yushuu looked up.

His face was covered in blood.

But behind it, his eyes were shining with strong resolve.

“Why… you…”

“I thought I had to take down the Ugly Pig Tribe Orcs.”

When Yujin asked, Yushuu stood up.

“Well then, see you later, Dad.”

“Hey! What the hell do you——!”

“There are still more Ugly Pig Tribe Orcs, right?”

“Yeah, there are, but…”

“Then I have to take them down.”

“Why does it have to be you! There are other village guards! You don’t have to do everything by yourself…!”

“Can the other guards beat the Ugly Pig Tribe Orcs?”

Yujin was at a loss for words when asked that.

It was true that the village guards couldn’t win against them.

Right now, only Yushuu could fight.

He understood that.

He could accept it logically.

But this was his own child.

Understanding it logically and having his feelings accept it were two different things.

Right then.

The mother and daughter who had been shaking behind them came closer.

They bowed their heads to Yushuu and said,

“…Um, thank you so much for saving us.”

Then they bowed to Yujin too.

…I see.

That’s right.

Right now, the only one who can save this village is Yushuu.

And I can’t do anything.

My son is going to risk his life fighting, and I can’t even help him.

It hurt.

It was painful.

But that was the truth.

Yujin clenched his teeth and said shortly,

“Yushuu. I’m counting on you for the village.”

“Leave it to me.”

After saying that, Yushuu left.

To save the village.

Leaving me behind.

…Ah.

I’m happy my son has grown so much, but at the same time it makes me sad.

But.

This wasn’t the time to get lost in those feelings.

Yujin turned to the mother and daughter.

“…Let’s escape. To a safe place.”

That’s all he said before leaving the village.

While praying from the bottom of his heart that his son would save it.