Harrison looked surprised, holding the Magic Pouch he had casually received.
“Is it okay for me to keep such an expensive thing?”
“It’s fine. It’s a pain to take your stuff in and out all the time. Once you form a party, you’ll need something to hold large prey. You saw that the cheapest 2-10 one costs 1.1 million Dala, right?”
“Yeah, once we register as a party, we’ll discuss it and buy one eventually.”
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
Returning to the campsite, I applied the Short Bow skill to the four of them and created an underground tunnel for practice.
It was more of a semi-underground tunnel, about 2 meters wide and long, and about 7 meters deep.
I set up the target about 5 meters from the shooting position and explained the practice method.
“We’re going to practice here?”
“Seriously, will this even be good practice?”
“Hugo, show us how to do it.”
As expected of Harrison, the leader type, he’s full of motivation.
A bundle of grass, acting as a straw target, was set up with a palm-sized rag attached as the actual target.
“From the standing position, draw the Short Bow and aim at the target about 5 meters away. After nocking the arrow, aim carefully and shoot. The moment you shoot, nock the next arrow, aim carefully, and shoot. Just repeat that.”
After saying that, I nocked a practice arrow on my Short Bow, drew it, and released the arrow. In the next instant, I pulled the next arrow from the quiver, nocked it, drew, and released.
The arrows hit the palm-sized rag target one after another, and I stopped after five shots.
“First, hit the target accurately. There’s no need to rush, but hitting the target reliably is important. You don’t need to draw all the way back; once you nock the arrow and draw, you’ll naturally find the right position to shoot. Each person gets 20 practice arrows; after shooting 20, switch out.”
They practiced 20 arrows each in the morning and evening, then went outside to practice with the Short Spear. From noon, they practiced scouting around the area, and after dinner, they practiced with the Short Bow again.
When we walked through the forest for scouting practice, I used the Short Bow to take down any prey we found.
Usually, it was at a distance of 20-30 meters, and I could shoot down small elk or Goblins from 30-40 meters.
I showed them that even a Short Bow had sufficient killing power, teaching them that the practice wasn’t pointless.
When we found a group of four Goblins, I exposed myself in front of them and shot down the approaching Goblins one after another.
I taught them that even if the injuries weren’t fatal, they could easily kill the fallen or wounded Goblins.
Sometimes, I lamented that a Short Bow arrow cost 4,000 Dala, so missing the target and losing them would reduce their earnings.
After about two weeks, they became reasonably proficient, so we switched to practicing group combat against Hornboars and Orcs.
I emphasized always positioning themselves to the front, back, left, and right of the beast, with those in the back and on the sides attacking.
Those in front or in a clearly visible position would provoke the beast, while those in the back or in blind spots would be responsible for attacking.
I also repeatedly practiced prioritizing thrusting at the legs rather than the body, and sliding the Short Spear after it was thrust in to cut.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
Luccas bent his arm at a right angle, raised his thumb, waved his hand, then clenched his thumb and forefinger, holding up three fingers.
Three Orcs. Harrison looked at me.
“There’s no time to position ourselves, so we’ll stop them head-on. I’ll take one, so I’ll leave the other two to you.”
Harrison nodded, placing Howl to the left, and Grosta and Luccas to the right, slapping his thigh with his palm.
The three nodded, readied their Short Bows, and stared in the direction of the approaching Orcs’ footsteps.
The bushes rustled, and the Orcs appeared, but they were in a single line. Howl shot an arrow into the left thigh of the leading Orc at the same time that Harrison shot an arrow into its right thigh.
The Orc, having taken three arrows in each thigh in rapid succession, fell forward. Grosta and Luccas shot arrows into the left and right legs of the Orc behind it from their respective positions.
No matter how tough an Orc is, it can’t stand with three arrows in each thigh.
The two Orcs in front fell, and the Orc in the rear, wondering what was happening, roared at Harrison and the others.
“Harrison, take that one down too while you’re at it!”
“Whoa, Hugo, that’s not what we planned!”
“Don’t you know what ‘improvisation’ means? Luccas, right leg; Howl, left leg. Harrison, aim for the heart! Grosta, back him up!”
With a 〈twang〉〈twang〉 of the bowstrings, arrows were shot, and the last Orc had arrows deeply embedded in both legs and its chest.
〈Phew〉
“What are you doing taking your time? You haven’t finished off the two you stopped!”
Howl, holding a Short Spear to finish them off, approached the Orc in front, while Harrison nocked an arrow on his Short Bow to provide cover.
Howl approached from the side, making sure not to enter the line of fire, and thrust the Short Spear into the carotid artery, sliding the blade.
He finished confirming the kill on the Orc with an arrow in its chest and sighed.
“How are the new arrowheads working?”
“They felt a little heavy, but the power is definitely there.”
“Yeah, with our usual arrows, the arrowheads are lighter, so they only penetrate about 10 cm at most.”
“Look, they’re stuck in deep.”
“That’s the power of 6 copper coins, alright.”
“Even so, they wouldn’t penetrate this far if you didn’t sharpen the tips of the arrowheads.”
“I’ll make sure to sharpen the tips of the regular arrows nicely tonight too.”
“Taking care of your equipment is important.”
We collected the arrows, cut off the Orcs’ limbs and heads, and put them into the rank 2 Magic Pouch.
It’s tough that Orcs don’t fit into a rank 3 Magic Pouch as they are, but it’s manageable if you cut off their limbs, so it’s fine.
I’m glad I secretly applied the Dismantling Skill and taught them how to dismantle.
Well, I originally applied the Dismantling Skill to myself because I wanted to dismantle and eat Horn Rabbits and Hedgehogs.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
We lined up three Orcs, one Elk, two Hornboars, eleven Horn Rabbits, seven Hedgehogs, and six Color Birds at the dismantling area.
“You guys have really improved lately.”
“Thank you very much. It’s all thanks to Hugo-san.”
“The Orcs are clean except for the arrow wounds from the finishing blows to the neck. I’ll give you a good price for these.”
The four of them ate breakfast in the cafeteria with smiles on their faces, praised by the dismantling chief.
“It feels good to be recognized as capable, doesn’t it?”
“That’s the first time the dismantling chief has ever praised us.”
“It’s all thanks to Hugo-san. Thank you.”
“Then you should officially form a party. I’m leaving the royal capital when winter comes.”
“Eh…”
“That was the agreement, wasn’t it? I was testing my ideas by training you all. The dismantling chief’s praise is proof that he recognizes you as full-fledged adventurers.”
“But, but not right away, right!”
“I still want to learn a lot of things.”
“Don’t abandon us!”
Howl immediately got hit on the head by the other three.
“Gross!”
“You… you’re into that kind of thing?”
“You’ve got the wrong line!”
“Ouch, that hurts! I was just joking.”
“Your jokes sometimes miss the mark by a mile!”
“This one gave me the creeps.”
“That’s not funny at all.”
“You’re getting kicked out before we even register as a party.”
“Please don’t abandon me!”
“Seriously, let’s register as a party. You’ve already thought of a name, right?”
“I have, but you’ll still be with us until winter, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
The dismantling chief came with the appraisal form, but the Guild Master is behind him.
“Are you the ones who defeated the three Orcs?”
“With Hugo-san’s support, yes.”
“I was just watching. There’s no doubt that the four of you took them down.”
“You four were also Iron ranks who registered this year, right?”
The four nodded in unison, and the Guild Master held out his hand and said, “Show me your Guild Cards.”
They quickly handed over their Guild Cards with expectant faces, and he said, “All of you are promoted to Iron Rank 2. Tell them where you defeated them when you receive your cards,” and announced the promotion to the counter.
“Eh… not Bronze?”
“Hugo-san took down three by himself, and we took down three with four people.”
“We should just be grateful that we can rank up at all.”
“We would have run away if it weren’t for Hugo-san’s instructions.”
Looking at the appraisal form I received, the price for Orcs is the same as before.
Orc, 80,000 Dala x 3 = 240,000 Dala
Elk, 60,000 Dala
Hornboar, 45,000 Dala x 2 = 90,000 Dala
Horn Rabbit, 3,000 Dala x 11 = 33,000 Dala
Hedgehog, 7,000 Dala x 7 = 49,000 Dala
Color Bird, 13,000 Dala x 6 = 78,000 Dala
Total 550,000 Dala
Showing the assessment form to everyone, I said, “It’s 120,000 Dala per person, and I’ll take 50,000 as a handling fee. Is that okay?”
“You always help us, but is that really okay?”
“It’s all Hugo’s anyway.”
“We’re getting paid and trained by you, after all.”
“Yeah, yeah, the food and weapons are all coming out of Hugo’s pocket.”
“I told you, you’re keeping me company. More importantly, use that money to buy new clothes.”
“Well, I was thinking it’s about time to replace this, but I wanted a Short Sword like Hugo’s.”
“It’s an unusual shape, but it’s good, isn’t it?”
“You can thrust, slash, and bash with just one sword.”
“If you’re using a Short Sword, you’ve got a weapon on your hip for emergencies, even if you’re using a Short Spear or Short Bow.”
“I’ll provide the weapons. It’s about time we started practicing PvP combat too.”
The receptionist brought the four cards, so I thanked her and handed them out.
Everyone looked happy as they looked at their cards, but going from First Class to Second Class just adds one horizontal line.
I think it’s a complete cop-out, but I understand that the guild probably finds it troublesome to make new cards every time.
Harrison’s face clouded over as he saw who had entered the cafeteria.