Berserk of Gluttony (LN) Volume 1 Chapter 4

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"Woah,the sword spoke!"
Idropped the black sword, surprised that it had suddenly spoken. Theshopkeeper who had been negotiating with other customers stared atme, narrowing his eyes. It seemed as though he was saying that if Icould not buy anything then I should hurry up and leave.
But Ihad other matters on mind. What is this… A talking ― I had neverheard of a sword with a soul before. Speaking of which, it hadprobably used my mind-reading skill as a medium to talk, yet therewas no doubt that this black sword had the will of a human being.
Fornow, I decided to examine it with the skill.
・Greedform: One-handed sword
Huh? That's it? Other weapons showed information such as endurance and attack power, however, this black sword had nothing apart from a name and form. I stared at the mysterious black sword. Dusty and stained with oil grease, it looked dirty, just like me.
Especiallysince it too had been treated like garbage.
Thinkingabout this, I felt a sense of affinity with it. The voice earlier haddefinitely said, "Buy me…" right?
Althoughit had spoken in an imposing tone, I felt that it was not malicious.If it had intended to harm me, it would have done so when I hadtouched it earlier.
Then,there should be no problem if I touched it once again. Withdetermination, I grasped the black sword. And then came the voiceeven more clearly than before.
"Ithought you'd run away, but you're quite interesting. Now, whatwill you do? Will you buy me?" (TLN: The black sword always uses anarrogant/commanding tone and refers to himself as "ore-sama",just something to keep in mind from this point forward.)
Ilooked around at the other trashy weapons. It seemed this blacksword, Greed, was the only sword I would be able to use properly. IfI considered it as a sword with a chat function, it should do wellenough.
"I'llbuy you. I feel like we're similar."
"Isee… Then, pay that fatty over there. Every time I see the face ofthat scum, I feel nauseous."
CarryingGreed, I went over and placed two silver coins on the counter infront of the shopkeeper. Still talking to the other customer, hesimply glanced sideways at the money to confirm the price, then urgedme away as though driving a dog or cat out of his stall.
He wasan unpleasant shopkeeper to the very end. There was no need for himto tell me, I was leaving anyway. As if I would ever come again!
In anattempt to clean up Greed, I took out a rag from my pocket and wipedthe sword. Despite this, the grime remained stubborn. Perhaps itwould be possible with soap, but… I had no more money.
"I'mcounting on you, Greed."
"Verywell, this may be luck. Or perhaps it is fate… I will stay with youtill the end. So, what is your name?"
Speakingof which, I had yet to tell him.
"I amFate Graphite."
"Hm,I will remember it. What now, Fate?"
Whatcame now had been determined last night.
"Iacquired a weapon. You understand, right?"
"Hunting?"
"Yes,monster hunting!"
Immediately,I travelled from the Commercial District to the kingdom's southerngate with my new inanimate buddy, Greed. The southern gate was madefor large amounts of merchandise to pass, and hence was much largerthan the other three gates. It was wide enough for ten wagons linedside by side to travel through.
Exitingfrom here, there was a place called Goblin Meadow just ahead. Thiswas where goblins resided, attacking wagons as they passed andstealing food. They had the lowest strength for demons, perfect forbeginner warriors to train against.
Thething I needed to be most careful about was that they hid in thegrass to attack. There were stories of warriors who saw a lone goblinand tried to strike, only to find themselves surrounded and killed bygoblins who had been hiding in the grass. Hence, there was a sayingthat went, "If you see one goblin, assume there are a hundred ofthem." I had heard these tales from a drunk old warrior at thetavern. I never thought they would be useful one day.
Nowthat I had joined the warrior forces, the first gateway to successwas goblin hunting. One-handed sword technique attack skill! Withthis, I should be able to defeat goblins.
Andthen, eat their souls and make them my own power.
As Idodged the wagons and headed to the south gate, I saw many peoplegathering around, all equipped with weapons. It seemed that this wasa popular meeting place for monster hunting parties. A party,huh…sounds nice. As a person who was bullied in my hometownvillage, something like this had been impossible. Even here, beingenslaved by Rafal, there had been no opportunity to make closefriends.
Fightingtogether, encouraging each other in times of difficulty, and cryingtogether when sad. My deceased father told me stories about theseparties of heroes and as a youth, I listened to them with shiningeyes.
"Wouldn'tthat be nice… having friends."
Imuttered this to myself thoughtlessly. Then, Greed said,
"I'mhere aren't I?"
"Y-yeah…"
Except,you were an inanimate object. What I wanted was a living friend. Ithought this was a large enough difference. Alright, I needed toraise my spirits and enter the world of warriors. Everything seemedfine now, I was no longer someone who had nothing. I had skills toattack monsters with. Surely I could and would be accepted into thewarrior circle.
As Iwas thinking this, a male warrior who looked to be about my agecalled out.
"Witha sword like that, you must be a fighter. How about it, want to joinme?"
"Wouldthat be okay?!"
Ibecame excited and my tension soared. I was someone who had almostnever experienced being needed by other people before. Being toldthat my power was wanted, I could not help but feel happy.
"Ah,I was troubled since my usual fighting buddy isn't here. By theway, what level are you?"
"Yes,I'm level 1!"
Hearingthis, he pulled a strained expression. After mentioning that he hadsome business to tend to while scratching his head, he left. Eh…Somehow, a strange sense of emptiness remained. At this, Greed spoke.
"Fate,give it up. Even with attack skills, you're still just a level 1.You might die in a fight. If it was you, would you want to join upwith a weak guy?"
I wasstartled by this. Having felt very strong after gaining a Gluttonystatus and skills, I had forgotten that I only just reached thestartline. Since I had no other experience apart from being treatedlike trash so far, I had yet to understand the ordinary view of life.
"Iwas cocky wasn't I?"
"Exactlythat. Besides, it is not good to expose your "Gluttony" skill, sogive up on finding a party. Also, you should use your Concealmentskill to hide everything except your One-handed Sword Technique. Thatis all I have to say."
"…Whyis that?"
I hadyet to talk about my Gluttony skills so how did it know? At this,Greed laughed fearlessly.
"Thatis because you and I are alike. Well, you'll understand soonenough."
Havingspoken in his pretentious tone, Greed settled into silence. AlthoughI was worried about his words, he was not wrong. The Gluttony skillwas unusually powerful and if other warriors were to find out aboutit, the result would not bear well for me.
Forexample, if they knew that it could take power from a defeatedopponent, then they may try to steal my ability. Killing me while Iwas still weak… it was likely. I traced my thoughts to Rafal. Well,it is possible that there are others like him.
Safetyfirst, and it seemed the only way for that was to hunt alone withGreed until I gained enough power to defend myself. First of all,goblin hunting.