I Became a Raid Boss

Garbage dump.

By dictionary definition, it means “a place designated for throwing away trash.”

However, in the western part of the continent… in an area that was once Grasis territory, the people referred to as the “garbage dump” had a different meaning.

It was a place where beings that could not be associated with humans gathered.

A place where demons from Raxia had congregated.

That is what they described as their garbage dump.

*

After leaving the noisy city, we headed towards Raxia.

While lost in thought, Da-eun suddenly spoke up.

“Did you know, Kana? They call the place where demons live a garbage dump.”

“Were you thinking about that?”

I wondered what she could be so deeply pondering, but it turned out to be nothing significant.

“I knew. Why?”

“Um… I was just thinking that people hate demons more than I thought.”

“I mean, garbage dump is just the tip of the iceberg. There are worse things said.”

“This is the tip of the iceberg?”

“Yep. For example—”

Beeee— and Beeeeeeee—.

“…Wait a minute, Kana!”

“And there’s ‘Beeeeee—’ and um—”

“I, stop with the bad words!”

A slender, elongated palm covered my mouth.

I shook my head vigorously, trying to escape the grip, but Da-eun stubbornly held onto me.

Uh-uh-uh—

“We shouldn’t use such bad words! Got it?”

“…Pfft! I was just telling you because I thought you were curious.”

“But still, it’s a no-go. How do you think people would feel if they heard bad words like that? And if you’re tossing those words around, your brain will get dull, and your cute face will become ugly.”

“The effects are tremendous.”

But looking at the nobles and royalty, it doesn’t seem like they got dull from bad words.

The intentions behind the words they use are impure, but their speech itself is quite lofty.

Those who think speaking plainly is vulgar tend to twist simple words multiple times.

What sounds like a compliment may be an insult, and what seems like an insult definitely is.

Oh, now that I think about it, it seems it was just insult after insult.

…So was I angry listening to it?

“Joanie. How do you think you’d feel if someone said, ‘You have a natural talent for swordsmanship’?”

“Um… If they said I had talent, wouldn’t that be a compliment? I think I’d feel good.”

“Unfortunately, no.”

That phrase actually means, “You’re so stupid, you’ll spend your whole life wielding a sword.”

Upon hearing this, Da-eun looked at me with disbelief.

“…Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? It could just be pure praise too.”

“Well, if you experience it directly, you wouldn’t say such things.”

People don’t really grasp the meaning of words until they experience them firsthand.

Thus, I had no particular desire to convince her, so I shrugged my shoulders and shifted the topic back to its original track.

“Anyway, do you understand why I said it’s the tip of the iceberg?”

“W, well… It’s definitely cute compared to those things…”

Da-eun hesitantly spoke as though recalling all the hateful things said about demons.

“But still, calling it a garbage dump… feels a bit much.”

Relative to that, it’s not unwarranted for Da-eun to feel that way since it does collectively label all the demons living there as garbage.

Interestingly, the demons don’t even deny that term.

In fact, some are even harsher on themselves than humans are.

“They see themselves as sinners.”

Though they had no choice but to fight for survival, they were sinners who took countless lives of those in the Ardina Continent.

And sinners who abandoned their duties.

Thus, the demons never named the place they lived.

They believed they had no right to give a name since they were sinners themselves.

“…Duty? What duty?”

“You’ll know soon enough.”

“Hii…”

That was precisely why we were heading to Raxia.

As I replied to Da-eun, I looked ahead.

In the distance, the land of sinners began to appear, shrouded in dark mana.

With each step closer to the land of sinners, the dark mana threatened me, but it couldn’t pierce through the mana surrounding me, merely flicking its tongue in vain.

Glancing at Selin, she was maintaining her usual serene expression, so this level of mana seemed no big deal for her.

That was expected, but the real concern was Da-eun…

I turned to look back at Da-eun, who was the weakest among us, and therefore the one I worried about the most.

“Ugh… I-I’m fine. I should be okay.”

Fortunately, Da-eun, the weakest in our group, still seemed to be holding up fine.

She looked a bit pale, but I figured that was just from the tension.

Seeing the ring on her hand sparkle, it seemed the magical tool was doing its job.

After all, it would be strange if the Dragon Orb produced no effect.

What truly mattered was whether it worked after we entered Raxia.

“It’s dark…”

“Dark?”

“It means it’s dark.”

“Ah-hah.”

Indeed, as she said, even though it was still quite early for sunset, the surroundings were surprisingly dark.

The sunny sky above was shining down, but the visibility felt like seeing through an opaque curtain of mana hanging in the air.

If a normal person came here, they would probably end up coughing up blood within minutes.

“Oh, I can see the village.”

Selin, squinting with her hand against her forehead, called out cheerfully.

Amidst the thick mana, wooden obstacles were visible.

Selin must have spotted that and shouted.

The wooden obstacles in the distance were so high that they could be mistaken for fortress walls and seemed quite sturdy.

Yes, they looked quite sturdy, but… wouldn’t they be easy to breach if one wanted to?

“…Kana?”

“No, I’m not saying I would do it.”

I was referring to monsters or perhaps demons… or humans, not myself.

If it were predicated on my actions, I wouldn’t have casually speculated about breaching it.

If I could cut down fortress walls, how could I not break a measly wooden barrier?

“Well, that’s true.”

It felt strangely satisfying to reason it that way, but at any rate, I managed to convince Da-eun.

As we were engaging in such trivial chatter, the wooden barriers that had appeared far away suddenly closed in on us.

“Stop!”

Just as we found the entrance of the wooden barrier to enter the village, a thick voice rang from above.

Looking up, a man with a completely pale face and black horns on either side of his head was staring down at us from a lookout tower.

“What business do humans have here?!”

“We came to take a boat.”

“What?!”

As the man bellowed, Da-eun flinched and rolled her eyes in surprise.

“Do you think he misinterpreted us as invading Raxia?”

She whispered with concern.

However, her anxiety was short-lived.

“I can’t hear well! Speak louder!”

“That doesn’t seem right.”

“Y-Yeah…”

Da-eun chuckled awkwardly at the man’s response.

I poked her in the side.

“Joanie, you speak for me.”

“Why? Can’t you understand?”

“If I couldn’t, I wouldn’t have answered.”

“Right… Huh? How did he understand us if we weren’t speaking Granic?”

“Let’s think about that later and hurry up. We’re being kept waiting.”

“Fine, fine. More importantly, if he understood, Kana could just say it herself without rushing.”

“It’s too much trouble to raise my voice.”

Seriously, having to raise my voice; what a bothersome task!

Standing confidently, it forced Da-eun to close her mouth.

She looked at me as though she had a lot to say, but when I tugged on my clothes, she sighed and shook her head.

I thought I caught her mumble something like, ‘Annoying brat…,’ but it must have been my imagination.

“We’re here to take the boat to Raxia!”

“…Raxia?”

The man who had been bellowing suddenly quieted down.

Deng—

Bang—!

And instead, the bell in the watchtower began ringing.

After a moment, there was a commotion within the wooden barrier.

Rumble rumble—

With a heavy dragging sound, the massive wooden gate began to open.

And of course, from within came a swarm of demons.

About ten demons, gripping their weapons, presented a strong stance against us.

“K-Kana… can you lend me a hand?”

Seeing their unwillingness to hide their tension, Da-eun tightly gripped my hand.

Her face had gone white as a sheet, and her palm was damp with sweat.

“Why are you so nervous?”

“Why do you think…? What if a fight breaks out…?”

“We fought just fine last time.”

“Ah, no, that…!”

Da-eun stammered, swallowing her words.

The confident posture she had shown while facing the one-armed swordsman was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a cowardly demeanor.

See? The nature of a person doesn’t easily change.

For a moment, I reveled in my victory and squeezed Da-eun’s hand.

“I’ll protect you, so don’t worry.”

With a group like that, I wouldn’t lose.

Da-eun, who had been staring at me blankly, broke into a bright smile.

“Kana, can I fall for you?”

“…That’s a bit troubling.”

“Hahaha, just kidding! I couldn’t possibly fall for my younger sibling!”

Still, it was sweet.

Murmuring softly, she, like I did, squeezed my hand tightly.

“I really didn’t need to be nervous. I have such a reliable younger sibling; why was I like that?”

I was aware of making a rather embarrassing comment.

But at least, the tension in the air had dissipated, so that’s good, right?

“What brings you to Raxia?”

In the meantime, one of the demons who had approached us asked.

From their gear, it seemed this man was the highest-ranking demon among those gathered here.

“I’ll explain.”

Before I could respond, Selin stepped forward.

The holy power emanating from her hand gently swirled around us and directed toward the demons.

The demons, initially startled by the sudden influx of holy power, felt its soft touch and soon relaxed their expressions, lowering their weapons.

“How was that? Was it clear?”

“…You’re one of the nuns serving Lady Edel.”

The somewhat confrontational demeanor of the man transformed in an instant.

“Oh?”

As if they had never been hostile, the man quickly became overly polite, seemingly unconcerned with Da-eun’s surprise.

Bow his head, he gestured for us to follow.

Following his gesture, the demons that had surrounded us stepped aside to let us through.

“My apologies.”

“No need. You were just doing your job. More importantly, would it be alright for us to talk inside?”

“One serving Lady Edel is always welcome.”

Selin smiled brightly as she looked back at us.

“Now that we have permission, let’s go in.”

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