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Jusa's Life So Far
「Noor」
A voice called out from behind. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
The other children also watched as the carriage left. This time it is not only people coming and going, but also involves separation. Of course, it is not certain that these older children will be sold, and yet, a somewhat damp, gloomy air hangs over the housing facility.
I slowly turned around. It was Jusa who called out to me.
「They have left」
「They’re gone」
We stared at the closed gate.
The children who left today may never come back here. If that happens, we might never see them again. Never being able to see someone again is the same as them being dead. I wonder how many people in my previous life’s Japan were aware of this? There are no phones or the internet in this world. The weight of separation should not be that different, but the people in this world seem to feel it more deeply.
「Well, some might remain unsold though」
「Haha」
Jusa made a lonely smile. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「I don’t know, whether to be happy or not about that」
「Does it makes you feel kinda complicated in the end?」
「Naturally」
Jusa sat down on the nearby chair.
「I am also human after all. The faces of the kids I used to see will be suddenly gone like so. Honestly, I can’t really say I like this job」
He directly said while resting his chin in his hand.
「But, isn’t it your own choice to help a slave trader?」
「That was well.....I got injured and quit becoming an adventurer and it was Master Myluc who took me in」
I am going to be free after this anyway. So I pulled another chair and sat ther.
「Come to think of it, you said it before with Kovol. Even to Topaz or something」
「Aah, that」
Jusa explained while smiling wryly.
「I thought it was a lie that would just barely be forgiven if told. I was successful in the job itself to become a high-ranking adventurer after all」
「The reason for you to lie.....I guess I don’t need to ask the reason」
「If it is you, you understand, right? There are not many people who have reached Topaz rank.....well, it’s a way to make memories. ‘Learned swordsmanship from a first-rate adventurer’. I just felt like making a kid’s dream come true」
Even Kovol is not that stupid. Or rather, he got a short temper, was bad at learning, and also not good with math, but he is not a kid who does not understand a person’s heart or logic.
I am sure that his dream of becoming a knight will be smashed to pieces if he is sold to a noble house after this. But, if he also had the opportunity. Even if he could not become a knight, maybe an adventurer or a warrior, at least he could stand closer to my dream. He just wanted him to see the entrance at least. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
So in that case, the stronger the opponent, the better it is in that match. So, Jusa just lied a little.
「Come to think of it, I haven’t heard much about it. The story when you were an adventurer」
「Aah, now that you mention it, that’s true」
Jusa then began to speak while staring at his left hand.
「I was also just an ordinary farmer’s kid. But, I admired warriors. The same as Kovol」
Jusa Trikroma ran away from his hometown when he was 13 years old. Until then, he had always been a farmer’s kid, helping with his father’s work. But, due to a small incident, he had a falling out with his family. And he ended up making up his mind. He embarked on the world outside the village by becoming an apprentice to the merchant who stopped by the village.
A travelling merchant has to do anything necessary to travel around. Setting up a camp, preparing a meal, and protecting themselves from bandits or wild animals. Soon, Jusa was also given a sword. At that time, he could not be happier.
And after 3 years had passed, Jusa was once again nearing the limit of his patience. His employer, the travelling merchant, was actually not resourceful. The business was not going well, and as a result, they reduced the wages they paid to Jusa and the other apprentices.
Also not finding his commission being cut continuously, Jusa declared that he was going to be independent, despite knowing it was still too early for him. And just like that, he dropped by the Adventurer’s Guild and registered as an adventurer.
At the beginning, Jusa struggled with poverty. There was just no work where he could earn money. That was natural as he was just a youngster with little experience, no reputation or achievements whatsoever, so no client would expect anything from him.
Although that does not mean there was no work at all, there were jobs for mercenaries instead of adventurers. In addition, there were the kinds of things where poorly-trained soldiers were hired cheaply and sent to their death one after the other. So Jusa jumped at the opportunity and spent roughly 3 years mainly in the desert region, the southern side of Saharia and lived his life close to death each day.
But, he overcame that.
「Normally, you go through difficulties and tough situations to get stronger. But, I realized my limits」
The desert battlefield was cruel. Intertribal conflict in Saharia. Strong, powerful clans fight each other constantly and Jusa was thrown into fierce battles time and time again. It was common to find people with outstanding swordsmanship more than him. Jusa lost. Many times at that.
Only, Jusa’s greatest weapon was not something like a sword. It was his will to survive and his inexhaustible stamina. On the desert’s battlefields, the thing that became your enemy was not the soldiers themselves, but the suddenly changing natural environment. It was scorching hot in the day and extremely cold at night. The occasionally blowing sandstorm completely blocked your visibility. The constant, insatiable thirst. During the short time in the southern continent, he witnessed his comrades starting to die from diseases one after another. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
In those times, no matter how many times he lost, Jusa kept on making his escape. And finally, he survived until his employer made peace with the enemy clan.
He obtained a large amount of money to a certain extent, and he returned to Forestia.
「At that point, I was at a loss.....should I continue becoming an adventurer or should I just become a merchant?」
Just had considerable capital. Moreover, he had experience as a merchant in Forestia as well as knowledge about Saharia from the 3 years of his mercenary life. However, in the end, he could not give up his dream.
「I knew it. That I could not be first-rate」
Even so, he still had regrets. At that point, he never challenged a dungeon (or labyrinth). He wanted to do something more adventure-ish. And while he never had the thought of becoming a knight, he had an experience being in Saharia, so he thought perhaps even the national army might see some value in him.
In the end, he worked as an adventurer and a travelling merchant at the same time. The few years after he turned 20 were really Jusa’s golden years in his life. His swordsmanship was already at the expert stage, and his knowledge and experience as a merchant had also become quite impressive. There was apparently a time when he had a lot of money and lived quite an extravagant life.
But, in the end, the wall that he could not cross over began to torment him.
「I failed 3 times in a row at Forestia’s exam to be a regular soldier, I became a wreck」
It was partly bad luck and partly him paying for his own mistakes. The reason he could not pass the exam was not due to his ability.
One, his face - as you can see - has a really plain shape, looking like a squashed frog. The Imperial Guards and Sea Dragon Corps - which he hoped to join - were both elite units of the national army and people like him, with his commoner’s origin and plain look, were not well-regarded.
Another reason was his age. Normally, it is common to join the national army as a regular soldier just before you turn 20 years old. Also, the retirement age for a common soldier is 20 years, while for commanding officers, their services range from 25 to 30 years old. After that, they will receive compensation from the country, such as the lending rights of a land, and spend their old age but.....
It was not until Jusa was 27 years old that he finally decided to sign up. This is also natural. His style of working as both adventurer and merchant allowed him to earn a decent amount of money. He was far inferior in terms of honor compared to regular soldiers, but in terms of income, he was far ahead. On top of that, although the military strictly enforces personal conduct, that does not matter if you are a free adventurer. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
After you enlist as a regular soldier of the national army - except for unavoidable circumstances such as death in battle - you need to serve on active duty for 20 years. In Jusa’s case, his retirement from the army will be at 47 years old, which is a little too high. Also, his habit from his many years as a free-spirited person has probably been reflected in his appearance.
So he eventually gave up on this path.
「If it’s going to be that way, I figured I might as well try to become a first-rate adventurer」
And so he worked hard from then on. He fought, fought, and kept on fighting.
He ranked up from Aquamarine to Amethyst, and finally to Jade. From that rank onwards is the territory of high-ranking adventurers.
He gathered companions who shared the same goal. Sharing their beds and meals, they overcame danger together, and before he knew it, they became friends.
And, that was not all. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「You probably think, ‘This guy did that?’, right? I only have no confidence in my face. Even so.....that was a miracle」
One of the women at the same party as him fell in love with Jusa. Receiving affection for the first time in his life, Jusa was over the moon.
It is not that he had no experience with a woman. However, it was only experience with the prostitute earning money in the battlefield. At one point, he was worried about his sex drive, so he seriously thought of purchasing slaves for that purpose. However, he knew very well that doing that would be pointless in the end.
And out of nowhere, a sudden miracle fell upon him. He thought at that time, ‘It was a good thing I did not become a soldier of the army’. If he has the prestige of a member of the Imperial Guard he might be able to get married just like everyone elese, but in the end, it was just business between families. But, the girl in front of him was looking at him without considering gain or loss. He thought it was much better.
So much so that he began to secretly dread going on an adventure. Furthermore, he is not the only one in danger. There is the possibility of her - who also dove into the dungeon - to die.
However, he could not bring himself to say, ‘Let’s stop being adventurers and live as merchants from now on’. Where did he meet her and for what purpose? Jusa did not forget. They joined hands to become high-ranking adventurers. If she saw him getting scared, he thought she would leave him.
「I was in my 30s. The perfect opportunity has come around」
They went to investigate a ruin within a certain noble’s territory. Preliminary investigation had determined there was no significant danger. So, the son of the nobleman was appointed to lead the investigation team. The son probably planned to use the investigation to earn points for the succession to the title.
But they went missing. There was no regular contact and there was no news from the additional troops that were dispatched. After a while, a worn-out survivor spoke about the existence of an unidentified monster. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
With the worsening situation, the noble asked for assistance from the Adventurer’s Guild with no regard to appearance. Unfortunately, that branch’s top adventurer team had already left elsewhere. And so the one who took on that request, was Jusa’s party.
「We were told that if we could rescue that noble’s son, we would be acknowledged as a high-ranking adventurer. We thought it would take another year or so, so we thought it was our chance. We rejoiced together. I thought once we get this job done, we can get married」
However, it was at such a time in particular that misfortune happened unexpectedly.
「We went to the actual site and walked around all over the place, but it was just a normal ruin, with nothing special about it. There was no such thing as a terrible monster that would make 20 soldiers go missing. However.....we found a tunnel at the back of the ruin」
Many labyrinths in this world have a long history. Dangerous labyrinths where monsters run rampant and are over 1000 years old. After all, labyrinths are places prepared in various places by the Demon King who opposed the Goddess. They were facilities to raise the monsters under his command. Although the scale varies, stronger monsters lurk inside, and they are incomparable to the monsters in the outside world.
And so Jusa and his party stepped into such a dangerous place. Even though the request this time was not for monster subjugation. All he had to do was to find the noble’s son and bring him back, dead or alive. And that was not the first time exploring a labyrinth. He judged that he could handle it good enough.
However…..
「The noble’s son we found was terrified. Almost all of the soldiers under his command were annihilated. No one could understand where or how they died. So, we made him stand and dragged that guy to the entrance for the time being. And it was just before we were about to return」
Red eyes shining in the darkness. By the time they noticed it - which was clearly shining brightly and in a higher position than a person -, the tragedy had already begun.
They must have been torn to pieces by its claws. The noble’s guard - who was walking at the back - was the first one killed. Even iron armor was disregarded. Jusa’s party fell into panic, partly because they could not see the enemy’s figure. But, the monster was walking at considerable speed, and screams kept echoing from behind at intervals. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
And yet, the pursuit seemed to stop when they neared the ruin’s exit. The moment they were about to quietly make they escape and feeling relieved, ‘it’ appeared on the other side of the dark stone passage.
「I could not see it very well but, it looked like a bird.....aah, no, it was not like that, it looked like a Saharian ostrich, looking in our direction. Of course, it was many times bigger」
And that magic beast or monster charged at Jusa’s party. While the passage to the outside was narrow. They were stuck when they were trying to get out at the same time. In the meantime, that monster closed in.
And the person who served as the rear guard, was Jusa’s girlfriend.
「I shouted for her to stop. But, she said to me ‘I’m fine, just go ahead’. I hesitated, but I thought I could waste any more time. I first kicked the noble’s brat out and then everyone else went out. After that, I went back to help her. But by the time, it was already.....」
There was no longer any presence of anyone at that place. Only her bloodstained breastplate was left on the ground.
But, he did not have the luxury to be sad or angry.
「That bastard was hiding in the shadows. It knew that, if I saw the equipment she left behind, my attention would be drawn to that. Her body wasn’t there, but that was what made me uneasy. That's what it was aiming for」
Nevertheless, Jusa was able to turn around just in time and at the last moment. But, the monster claw tore through the shield Jusa raised with his left hand.
Jusa fought well with his remaining right hand and his sword. However, his opponent was clearly stronger and quicker. Having decided there was no chance of winning, he turned around and fled. Situational judgment is precisely what he is good at. He escaped safely from the ruin, unharmed for the injury from the first attack. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
As a result, the request was completed. They delivered the noble’s son to the client alive. But Jusa’s party lost an important companion.
Having achieved its objective, the party disbanded. Several of his companions became high-ranking adventurers and received Topaz’s medals. At the same time, some took the opportunity to stop being adventurers. Jusa belongs to the latter.
「……I couldn’t do anything」
For the next 2 years, he could not clearly remember where he was or what he was doing. At that time, Jusa was really just an empty shell. He even tried escaping into alcohol. At other times, he stays holed up in an inn all day, doing nothing but sleeping. As he spent unproductive days like that, his money gradually ran out.
Once his money ran out, he became homeless and a beggar. As expected, it can not continue. And it was not himself who sensed a danger, but the fellow beggar around him. At their recommendation, Jusa lethargically did day labor and spent his life every day in pain and without meaning.
As a swordsman, Jusa had already passed his peak. Although part of the reason was due to his poor daily lifestyle, the biggest reason was due to the injury to his left hand. While he had already received treatment, as expected, it could not be returned completely as before. Even though he would not be inconvenienced in his daily life, he does not seem to be able to endure fierce battles like he used to.
And at that time, around 5 years ago, Jusa reunited with Myluc. They became acquainted more than 10 years ago on a desert battlefield. After hearing Jusa’s story, Myluc thought it over carefully and suggested that he help him with his own work.
「So it was like that?」
「Yeah」
It must have been a painful story, but Jusa acted like nothing happened. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「And so, I don’t want to hear people say lightheartedly that they want to be an adventurer or a soldier. When I think back on my mercenary days, those times now, I now think of it as hell. If I were asked to do it again….right, I will choose to be a prisoner of war without hesitation now」
「But, Kovol is」
「Well. I also know how he feels.....but, he probably listened to my advice, right? I told him he doesn’t need a sword, and he should train his body. In short, that’s how it is」
He was saying that it is fine to take the path of a strong servant instead of the path of a warrior. Eventually, Jusa wanted to prepare a cushion of sorts, so he would be able to compromise with reality.
「Well, it was such a boring story, wasn’t it?」
「No, it’s not」
「Noor」
Jusa said, rising from his chair.
「You have resourcefulness more than the ordinary person, so you will probably want to try all sorts of things. But you know, it’s over if you die. Just remember that」
After saying only that, Jusa returned to the management office.
Left alone, I try to reproduce his life's story in my mind. But even doing that will not be enough to kill all the excess time I have today.
I have no work today. Reading is fine and all, but I have already read all the books in this housing facility. How to relieve my boredom.....right. Let’s become a bird and fly in the sky after a long time not doing that. If it is now, Wyst will also not be in the same room.
So I rush into my own room. Now then, let’s fly....so I thought and looked out the window.
The window was wide open. The blue sky seen from the north window clearly stands out in the dark, stone-built room. But, there was something unfamiliar under the window frame.
It is a wooden carving ornament. It is painted in bright colors. It is a carved image of a small bird joyfully flying above a field of flowers.
I picked it up and stared at it. Who was it.....?
Is this Wyst’s personal belonging? That is not it. He will probably not forget something so obvious. So, maybe it was his way of giving me a present? That’s also not right. If he buys it, then it was probably the last time he went out. But, even if he wanted to give me something, he would do it properly. Above all, he is not the type of person who gives something like this. Being a pragmatic guy, he will bring back something sweet or delicious.
But what bothers me is the design. Bird. And also, flowers.
Could it be, Dona really had noticed it? But, how? Just how did she know about it?
I quietly returned it to the window frame while doubts continued to grow in my mind. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
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