Fugitive Poison User ~I Am Somehow Recovering in a World Full of Miasma~ - Chapter 53

Poison-Wielding Fugitive   Chapter 53
‘Actually, all of those weapons are quite common. However, the fact remains that there are many bonus effects. It certainly says a lot of the blacksmith’s skills.’

Huh… so that’s the difference skill makes.

‘They are twice, perhaps three times as powerful as their average counterparts. Even the normal ones cost quite a lot.’

These weapons are nothing to sneeze at then.
I’m not exactly sure how this world works regarding quality and equipment, but I do know that we were lent some good stuff.

I try out the crossbow.
It’s got some heft to it, heavier than the Rapid Feather Crossbow I’ve been using.
I know how good the equipment Veno gave me is just by this.
And this crossbow doesn’t have Auto Reload, which means I’ll have to do it myself after every shot.
Well, this is how they normally are anyway, so I’ve got to get used to it.

Uhh… do I crank this bit here?
As I turn the winch, the whole thing creaks and the string moves back.
Oh, it’s not as stiff as I thought it’d be.
A ka-chik tells me that the crossbow is now cocked.
I place a bolt in the groove.

Sure seems hard to shoot this thing quickly.
Not that it actually takes a lot of time to cock and load the crossbow, but it’s completely different than what I’ve been doing up to now.

‘And because of that, its power is also different than your previous crossbow.’

That’s right… you did mention that it’s like three times stronger than my Rapid Feather Crossbow.
I’m looking forward to seeing how it’ll turn out to be after Wayne fixes it up.

“Let us depart at once. Follow me,” said Celes as she led us out the door.

We’ve set our destination to a mine a little ways away town. They say adventurers like to go after the ores there.
Not only are the ores of good quality, it’s also peculiar in that there’s a bit of magic in them. Because of that, monsters gathered around the area, distorted the space, and created a dungeon.
Miasma also comes spewing out of it, so it’s not quite inhabitable. But it seems like both adventurers and the people find the mine indispensable.
And so, that’s the dungeon we’re headed to.

The day after we departed, we encountered trouble on our journey.
We were riding in the wagon when suddenly, we were told that highwaymen were upon us.
It seems like they were after the merchant’s cargo ahead of us. For better or worse, they found us instead.
We hopped off the wagon and entered battle.

“Move out! Be alert!”

Celes leaps out of the carriage and with her sword, she rapidly slashes at her opponent.
Geez, the way she moves makes her look like she’s straight out of Dynasty Warriors or something.
The bandits are all but two-bit chumps.

“Mu!”

Muu takes the lead and rushes in with his axe. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I loaded up my crossbow with a bolt enchanted with Paralyzing Poison.  I take careful aim… but Arleaf shoots out Fire Bullet.
“Fire Bullet!”

I think you could say it was immediately after she finished casting her spell.
A mass of fire appears in front of Arleaf, travels towards the bandits, but merely grazes their shoulders.
That’s some impressive firepower.

“Augh, gaaaaaah!”
“Th-They’re traveling with some crazy powerful adventurers. Skedaddle!”
“Aah! Get me outta here!”

The highwaymen turn tail and escape at full speed.
Other adventurers and merchants with us had a dumbfounded look on their faces.
Then they all started clapping.

“All bark and no bite. I hope they learned their lessons.”

Celes spat out her words as she watched the bandits run away.

“How formidable you are for such a girl at your age… now we needn’t worry on our travels!”
“Aye. I witnessed it.”
“I was nervous a-and so I exerted a little too much mana…”
‘Hmph… the lass has indeed become much stronger in her magics. Thou needst not be afraid of small fry like them.’
“Mu!”

At any rate, we got the bandits to leave us without incident.
In this moment, though, you can see that Arleaf realized that she became stronger.

‘The lass is quite capable now. And especially with her weapon, her fire magic is very powerful.’

And that’s to Veno’s standards too.
But to me, it seems like I’m getting left behind.

“Such power especially for an elementary fire spell like that… you are so strong that I would like to scout you for my agency.”
“It is simply that my level is high. I apologize for not being able to control my powers.”
“Is that right? But I think you have a lot of talent…”
“Yes. I am level 63 right now.”

Oh, right.
It’s Veno’s fault that Arleaf is now double our level.
She’s so strong that she even caught the attention of a top-tier warrior like Celes.
Which reminds me, I was planning to get Arleaf to level us up.

“That is actually quite high… but you seem like you are still in your base class. Are you not planning to advance classes?”
“Uhh… umm, I got to where I am in a less than ideal way and so all my available jobs are prohibited ones.”
“What did you—no, that’s why you didn’t advance. I am sorry for bringing it up.”

Their conversation got a little awkward.
There’s nothing that special about me, though I’m not exactly aiming for the top.

“Then, Ms. Arleaf, are you focusing on helping others and gaining experience for now?”
“My plan is to help Yukihisa level up.”
“I see. Then let us help Mr. Cohgray become stronger.”
“All right.”

It doesn’t seem like they’re about to let me in their conversation.
Well, whatever.
Oh, and by the way, it seems like they sent people to chase after the highwaymen. But since the bastard were too quick, our fighters returned shortly afterwards.

“We’ll be safe with such powerful mages and warriors. We’re counting on you.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Ah-haha…”

Arleaf forces a smile.
It seems to be rough for her seeing how her magic is even stronger than she expected.
And don’t forget how she was even breaking doors. Arleaf is beyond us mere mortals now.

‘Thou must be glad thy fantasies have become true. Perhaps I shall allow you to use knives now.’

Hey, not so loud! What if she hears you?!

‘Fret not.’