The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 20

“You’re being excessively workaholic!”

“Oh, you’re back… Work-a-what? What’s that?”

When I returned to Gaga-san’s workshop in the dead of night, with the moon directly overhead, I heard a clanging sound from the workshop. Thinking “No way…”, I went to check, and there was Gaga-san forging a sword!

You nearly died, so shouldn’t you be resting quietly!?

“Gaga-san, do you understand!? You almost died! And yet you’re trying to forge a sword already!”

“I’m of the Oni race, you know. I’m far tougher than others. Well, thanks to that, I didn’t let go of the sword easily, so I got slashed up pretty badly. Hehehe…”

This is no laughing matter!

You should have let go of the sword for safety’s sake!

“Well, wait a bit. I’ll forge a replacement for the stolen sword right away. Oops…”

Gaga-san dropped his hammer.

That’s unusual…

No, more importantly, I need to report about the sword!

“That’s not necessary anymore! I got the sword back, look!”

“Seriously…? You’re really something sometimes. Even I couldn’t see the opponent’s movements at all, how did you get it back?”

“Well, I just politely asked them to return it, and they did.”

“The kind of opponent who’d return it just like that?”

Avoiding Gaga-san’s skeptical gaze, I picked up the hammer he had dropped.

“Well, I might have had a little CHAT with them…”

At that moment, I noticed something.

The leather belt wrapped tightly around Gaga-san’s right hand—

“Gaga-san, that right hand…”

“Ah, this? If I don’t secure it with a belt like this, the hammer keeps slipping out of my right hand. Seems to be an aftereffect of getting slashed. I can’t put any strength into my right hand at all. Hahaha!”

“This is no laughing matter! It must be my fault! My [Heal Light] wasn’t skilled enough…”

If I had raised my skill level more, this might not have happened.

The blood drained from my face.

But Gaga-san shook his head as if to say that wasn’t the case.

“The beginner-level recovery magic [Heal Light] can’t fully heal deep wounds. Don’t worry about it. Besides, it’s a bonus that my life was saved.”

“But…”

“No buts! You saved my life! And I survived! Isn’t that enough?”

“But with that arm, you won’t be able to forge swords anymore, right…?”

“Ah, I have two arms. It might take time, but I’ll just have to learn to do it with my left. …Did you know? The Oni race is quite long-lived.”

Gaga-san laughed with a carefree expression.

Maybe Gaga-san had already come to terms with it in his mind, but for me, it wasn’t something I could accept so easily.

It might not be directly my fault, but I still hate the idea of Gaga-san being unable to forge swords properly for a long time!

After thinking desperately, I posed a question to Gaga-san.

“…Would a recovery magic stronger than [Heal Light] heal it? For example, if there was a recovery magic as powerful as [Resurrection Potion]?”

“Don’t need healing power up to [Resurrection Potion] level. But, well. If it was a higher-tier magic than [Heal Light], it might heal. Well, I’m not too knowledgeable about that stuff…”

“Gaga-san!”

“Huh…? —Whoa!?”

I took out some easily edible food from my [Storage] and laid it out. Is this enough?

“What’s with all this food…”

“I’m going out for a bit! There’s enough for about three days, so make do with that!”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“To the city, of course! If I leave now, I should make it by the time the gates open in the morning!”

Saying that, I left the workshop and used [Carriage Summon].

My destination: Evil Grande.

I didn’t really want to go to the city at this time, but if I go during the early morning when there are few people, I probably won’t be spotted by those searching for Yamamoto.

Instead of the coachman’s seat at the front of the carriage, I boarded the part that had been remodeled like a cockpit inside the carriage and quickly set the destination.

It’s so convenient to have a self-driving carriage at times like this!

“We’ll take a direct route to the city, ignoring monsters and roads. Then, dash to the guild. The snake’s path is— That person should know more details…”

I selected the destination on the mini-map, set a straight-line route there, and set the carriage in motion.

■□■

The carriage, after thoroughly destroying the forest, arrived at Evil Grande’s gates just as the mountainside was beginning to brighten.

I pulled off a flashy drift with the carriage, ran over a weak monster, finished it off with [Death Sentence], and then dismissed the carriage.

The gates of Evil Grande had just begun to open, so there weren’t many people passing through yet.

I joined that trickle and stepped into the city.

While hearing the thin murmur that couldn’t quite be called a bustle yet, my feet unhesitatingly headed towards a building I knew well.

“—Milene-san, are you here!?”

“I’m here~ I just woke up though…”

When I burst through the door and into the Commerce Guild, it seemed Milene-san was indeed there. Thank goodness…

“It’s an emergency, I need your help!”

“An emergency? Smells fishy this early in the morning…”

Milene-san’s face, which had been rubbing sleepy eyes, finally began to sharpen.

But that bed head is unacceptable!

But I’m in an emergency too! With no time to dawdle, I sat down at the counter seat and faced Milene-san.

Perhaps for my sake, Milene-san poured a glass of water and handed it to me. I gulped it down in one go. Glug!

“Puha!”

“No need to rush. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You might not be, but Gaga-san is in trouble!”

“Gaga-kun?”

Milene-san’s face clouded a little at my words.

From her reaction, it seems Gaga-san isn’t someone the Commerce Guild can ignore.

Well, I expected he’d be pretty irreplaceable as a virtually A-rank blacksmith…

“Listen calmly, okay? Gaga-san was attacked by robbers and got injured. I healed most of the wounds with magic, but the deep wound on his right hand just won’t heal…”

“Gaga-kun’s dominant hand? That’s quite bad…”

So Milene-san also recognizes it as bad.

If anything, Gaga-san is taking his injury too lightly!

After thinking desperately, I posed a question to Milene-san.

“…I asked Gaga-san, and he said that a higher-tier magic than [Heal Light] might heal it. Do you happen to know any mages who can use such magic?”

“I see, so that’s the situation. Well, I do know some, but…”

“I’ll pay!”

For this kind of treatment, you need donations or offerings, right?

I’m not sure if there’s anything like a church in the monster country!

But now I have some savings from the profits of my practice pieces. If money can solve the problem, I don’t want to skimp on it.

I looked at Milene-san with determined eyes, but she shook her head slightly and answered.

So it’s not a money issue…?

“The magic one tier above [Heal Light] is called [Area Heal], but it can’t heal severe bodily damage. To heal such injuries, you need a magic two tiers above, called [Shine Heal]. And someone skilled enough to use such magic… is likely to be a very busy person. They probably wouldn’t move for someone of my connections.”

Is it like saying a cardinal won’t move for an ordinary person’s injury?

Well, that might be true, but…

“Even if it takes time, is there no way to meet this person?”

Milene-san’s cold words pierced me as I was thinking of making any kind of promise to have Gaga-san examined.

“Listen carefully, Yamamoto-chan. It’s said that such bo

“Listen carefully, Yamamoto-chan. It’s said that such bodily abnormalities become permanent after three days. In other words, the body recognizes the damage as its new normal state after three days. It’s practically impossible to arrange an appointment and get treatment within three days…”

“No way…”

After coming all this way…

My vision darkened with despair.

If the condition becomes permanent in just three days, considering the return journey, we effectively have only one day to do something about it.

There’s the option of raising my own [Light Magic] level to learn [Shine Heal], but I haven’t even learned [Area Heal] yet, so it doesn’t seem possible in time.

Should I try recruiting someone skilled in recovery magic at the Adventurers’ Guild?

But if I can’t find anyone, I might waste irretrievable time…

What should I do…

What can I…

At that moment, my intuition kicked in.

Something close to inspiration flashed in my mind.

“Milene-san, are there any potions with effects similar to [Shine Heal]? Something that can heal severe injuries!”

“There… are. There is one. It’s called [Regeneration Potion], but…”

“Please sell it to me!”

“I’m sorry. [Regeneration Potion] is made-to-order only, and we have no stock. Moreover, there are no alchemists in this city who can make it, so we’d have to send an order to Forzain in the fourth city. If we did that, three days would definitely pass.”

Why…

Just when I thought I’d found a ray of hope…

Even that light is extinguished?

“We do have stock of other potions, but [Regeneration Potion] requires both [Alchemy] and [Compounding] skills at a decent level, so there are limited people who can make it… That’s why it tends to be in short supply in every city.”

It seems that to make [Regeneration Potion], you need both [Alchemy] and [Compounding] skills, but people who develop both skills properly are rare, so [Regeneration Potion] stock is depleted.

Just hearing the name [Regeneration Potion], it sounds like it might be lower rank than [Resurrection Potion], but…

—!?

“Milene-san! Is [Regeneration Potion] by any chance in the C-rank recipes!?”

“Yes, it should be in the C-rank [Alchemy] recipes.”

Bingo!

They said [Resurrection Potion] was in B-rank recipes, so I thought to ask if [Regeneration Potion], which seems lower rank, might be in C-rank recipes, and it was a hit!

If that’s the case, there’s a way!

“Milene-san, can we gather the materials for [Regeneration Potion]?”

“You can gather them, but I can’t disclose the recipe until you reach C-rank, you know?”

“That’s not a problem!”

Saying that, I started tearing off all the D-rank requests posted on the bulletin board.

“W-wait a minute!”

Then, I placed all the torn-off request forms in front of Milene-san with a thud.

Milene-san made a scary face, perhaps remembering the first irresponsible aspiring production worker.

But I have no intention of backing down either.

No, preparations are already complete. There’s no reason to retreat here!

“I’ll take all of these!”

“Yamamoto-chan, do you understand what you’re doing…?”

“It’s fine. I’ve already gathered all the materials in the forest. Also, I’ll be borrowing the back room, okay? I’ll finish everything in one day, so please let me have it to myself!”

Saying that, I headed towards the back of the Commerce Guild where the compounding room and alchemy room were located.