"...Ah, yeah, I’m fine. You saved me."

It seems that this adventurer tried to help me. While I probably could have handled the boar's charge with my current physical abilities, I can’t deny that I got a bit spooked by the sudden attack.

Besides, I’m completely unarmed and unarmored. A middle-aged man like me, wandering alone and defenseless in the forest, definitely wouldn’t look like a hunter.

"That was a close call!"

"Glad to see you’re not hurt."

The adventurers who appeared were a group of three young people, probably in their mid to late teens. The one who took down the boar was a short-haired blond guy wearing metal armor. His face was well-defined, a fresh and handsome young man.

Another member of the group was a female adventurer with long golden hair tied into a ponytail. She was also quite pretty, and standing next to the handsome guy, they looked like a model couple. She wore light armor and carried a bow.

The last one was a brown-haired man dressed in leather armor, holding a pair of large knives. He looked a bit rough around the edges, and his intense gaze could come off as intimidating.

"It’s good that you’re safe. But what are you doing out here alone?"

"…Well, actually, I was attacked by bandits. They stripped me of everything. Then, I was spotted by the boar and it came after me."

I decided to go with that story.

"That’s terrible. We were just on our way back after completing a quest."

"Getting attacked by bandits... what bad luck, old man."

"Still, it’s lucky that we ran into you."

"Yeah, I really appreciate it. Thank you."

Looks like my lie passed unnoticed. No one would believe a defenseless, middle-aged man came to this forest to hunt monsters, after all.

"Don’t worry about it. We're happy to help out. We're heading back to town anyway—want to come along?"

"Really? That would be a huge help. But I’m sorry, I don’t have any money to pay you. The bandits took it all, so I can't even thank you properly or pay a commission."

I truly appreciated their kindness, but I really don’t have any money right now.

"Hah, forget about paying. Don’t worry."

"Yeah, we’re not going to take money from someone in need."

"Right. Don’t let it bother you."

They didn’t seem to expect anything in return from me. They’re genuinely good people.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Hey, no problem. We just need to butcher this wild boar first, so can you wait a little?"

"Of course."

"So, Jin-san, you’re new around here?"

"Yeah. I came from a faraway country, so I’d appreciate it if you could tell me a bit about this area."

The boar they took down was a monster called a Wild Boar, and it seems to fetch a decent price. I casually asked about the black cow I killed earlier, and it turns out that it, too, will sell for a reasonable amount. Looks like I’ll have some startup funds for now—what a relief.

After they finished butchering the Wild Boar, we began heading towards the town together. The man who saved me is named Marco, and he’s the leader of this adventurer party.

"That town is a pretty good place. It’s one of the largest in the area, lively, and the security isn’t bad either."

The slightly rough-looking guy introduced himself as Jonan. Despite his rough way of speaking, he was the first to say he didn’t need any money from me. He might seem intimidating, but he’s kindhearted.

"Yes, it's a safe place for women too. I’ve lived there for quite a while."

The only woman in the group is named Milly. She’s quite cute and probably gets a lot of attention. Female adventurers seem rare. But still, she’s way out of an old guy like me’s league. Not to mention, there’s an age gap as big as that between a father and daughter.

"I’ve been to a lot of towns, but this one is really comfortable to live in."

"Sounds like a great town."

It seems like this town is a good place to settle. I’ll make it my base for a while.

"If there’s one downside, it’s that it’s close to a demon tribe settlement."

"…………"

Ah, so the subject of demons comes up. I didn’t get a chance to ask about this in town yesterday, but I’m curious. Could it be that humans really are as ruthless as that Demon King’s general claimed?

Seeing how kind the people in town and these adventurers are, it’s hard to believe that humans have been oppressing demons as viciously as they said.

"In the country I came from, there’s no information about demons or their attacks. Could you tell me more about them?"

"Sure. You probably know that humans and demons have been in conflict for hundreds of years, right?"

"…Actually, no, I didn’t know that."

"Wow, not even that? You must come from a pretty peaceful place. The conflict between humans and demons has been going on for centuries. There were times when a truce was established, but that’s been broken, and now we’re back in a state of war."

"I see… So, do demons eat people or anything like that?"

"No way! They do attack humans, but they definitely don’t eat them."

So they’re not that extreme. In manga and anime from my world, demons often eat people, but I guess that’s not the case here. Even back in the Demon King’s castle, they talked about killing and experimenting on humans, but not eating them.

"Why did the war with demons start?"